Crowned and Dangerous
by MurderingxMyxTeddyxBear
Summary: Blair Hunter and the MCR boys are at it again! Helping Maggie w/ an article on the America's Junior Miss Pageant forces Blair to get a little...involved. Will she make it through? Maybe in the alternate universe where she can actually walk in high heels.
1. Unfortunate Events

**A/N: **Dun dun...dun dun...dun dun dun! *dramatic drum music plays in background* Ahem...well, yes...There's really only one I can say this...

**IT'S HERE, BITCHES! IT'S HERE! **

Haha, its my super-belated Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzah gift to you guys, I guess, 'cause I was suddenly struck with intense determination to start writing this. It has some big shoes to fill, being the sequel to Just One of the Guys and all. Hopefully, it will live up to (and possibly even exceed) your expectations. I'm giving it my all. Just for you, my little flower children. :D

Just a few things to straighten out before we begin:

1. I can't say how consistent updates are going to be. With school and homework and all that jazz, there's just no way to know when I'll have time to sit down and work on it. For that, I'm sorry, but it will still be awesomely awesome! Just add this to your story alert subscription!

2. **IMPORTANT!: Do not read this story if you have not read Just One of the Guys! SERIOUSLY! A lot of stuff will be mind blowingly confusing if you are naughty and read this story first. Just warning you. **

Okay, formal stuff is over now guys. Go ahead and read to your little hearts' content.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Unfortunate Events That Unfortunately Weren't Unfortunate Enough<strong>

**Blair's POV**

Since the dawn of time, parents have been lecturing their kids about the importance of school. They tell us the we need to go to school to get a good education so that we can get super awesome jobs someday and make a shit ton of money. (Okay, they don't say it exactly like that, but you get the idea.) But in my opinion, school is really just a big waste of time and money. If I, Blair Hunter, had it my way, I would learn everything I needed to know by playing video games, goofing off with my friends, and everything else would be supplemented by watching a Bill Nye the Science Guy video every couple months. Just for good measure.

But of course, I **DON'T** have it my way, so I was, at this moment, slumped over at my desk, trying to tune out whatever my teacher was rambling on about. Luckily, I have this kick ass thing called imagination to help me out. I'd been daydreaming a lot lately about everything from unicorns to giant Poptarts to me falling into a vat of toxic waste and getting superpowers. Today, however, I was lost in thought trying to imagine my perfect Spring Break, since it begins as soon as school is over today.

I was sitting on the beach in one of those long chairs, watching the waves crash onto the shoreline. I had a piña colada in one hand and a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos in the other. A stereotypically French waiter named Pierre was fanning me, and my favorite band, Muse, was putting on an exclusive private serenade just for me. This was the life. So what if it just a daydream? It was still awesome.

I sighed contently and was just about to ask Pierre to grab me another piña colada when someone (a certain someone with fiery orange hair) just happened to interrupt me. "Blair!" my best friend, Maggie Wheeler, cried as she dashed towards me across the sandy beach. I stared in confusion.

"Maggie? What are you doing in my daydream?" I asked, standing up from my seat. "I'm trying to imagine my perfect Spring Break." A devious smile spread across Maggie's face. I felt my eyes go wide.

"What are you talking about, Blair? You know perfectly well that you're not going to the beach for Spring Break to relax..." she said, smirking.

"No...no..." I pleaded, knowing that my beautiful daydream was about to crumble.

"That's right. Because...**I'M DRAGGING YOU TO ALABAMA TO HELP ME WITH A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE****!**" the red head cried, laughing maniacally.

"Nooooooooooooooooo!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as the beachy setting shattered like glass around me...

My eyes shot open suddenly, nearly blinded by the bright lighting above me. I found twenty pairs of eyes staring back at me. My hand came up to my face and felt a little trickle of drool at the corner of my mouth. Reality came rushing back to me. I wasn't on a beach with an evil Maggie. I was in school! In Mr. Glass's English class, to be precise. And apparently...my daydreaming exploits hadn't exactly been silent.

"Umm...hehe." I laughed awkwardly as my classmates continued to stare back to where I was sitting with expressions varying from total confusion to sheer amusement. Mr. Glass's voice broke the silence from the front of the room.

"Miss Hunter...would you care to explain to us all why you just screamed 'no' at the top of your lungs in the middle of my class? Surely my discussion on iambic pentameter can't have been that devastating." The entire class snickered.

"I...well, the thing is..." I stammered, trying to come up with an explanation that didn't make me sound **COMPLETELY** psycho. I was saved from thinking of one by the shrill ring of the bell, ending class and the school day. I let out an immense sigh of relief as everybody shot out of their desks and started to pack up and leave. Mr. Glass just smiled at me in exasperation and shook his head.

"Have an excellent Spring Break, everyone!" he called as I scooped up my books and sped out into the bustling halls. I ducked into the nearest bathroom, catching sight of myself in the mirror. I looked frazzled. My signature multicolored light brown, yellow, and pink hair was sticking up in all directions and my almond colored eyes were wide with embarrassment. I shook my head at my reflection.

"Way to make an idiot of yourself, Blair." I muttered, fixing my hair. That had not been the first time I'd daydreamed of situations like that in the past couple of days. Why was I constantly dreaming of Maggie bursting in and ruining my ideal Spring Break, you ask? Because it's true. Yes...Maggie was indeed dragging me to Alabama to assist her with an article she was going to be writing for one of the local Alabama papers. It was going to be me, Maggie and her parents, and my other best friend, Devon Wilde, all flying down to dear old Mobile, Alabama to stay with some cousins of Maggie's. One of them (Ashley, I think her name is) was going to be competing in a competition called the America's Junior Miss Pageant. Think Miss America, but with teenage girls.

And the lovely pageant just so happened to be what Maggie was doing the article on. As she would tell anyone who'd listen for longer than five seconds, a Mobile newspaper was willing to pay her to write a piece that gives an insider's viewpoint into the world of America's Junior Miss contestants. And, of course, for some unfathomable reason, Maggie needed **MY** assistance to do so. I know, I know...don't ask me about what goes on inside that head of hers. But anyhow...so her uber-rich parents had bought me and Devon plane tickets to go with her and we were set to fly out for Mobile two days from now. That's two straight weeks of excess sleep, Chinese take-out, and baggy sweatpants that comes with Spring Break, wasted.

I finished up in front of the mirror and slid back out into the considerably emptier hallways, making my way to my locker to pack up anything I would need. Thankfully, the teachers had been friendly (for once) and decided not to give us any homework to do over the break. I was attempting to jam my lock closed and swing my backpack onto my bony shoulders at the same time, when a familiar voice echoed down the hall. "Blair!" Deja vu struck as I saw Maggie sprinting towards me, her shoulder-length, vibrantly orange hair flying behind her. She was closely trailed by a smiling Devon, whose nearly-as-long dark brown hair was also being whipped around.

"It's Spring Break! It's Spring Break!" Maggie squealed, doing a sort of shuffle dance in front of me. "No more school, 'cause it's Spring Break!" She was singing now. I had to end this before it got out of control and a flash mob came down the hallway or something.

"Yes, Mag, I'm well aware that it's Spring Break. Thank you for the singing memo." I said sarcastically, swinging my backpack further up onto my back and nearly falling face first onto the ground in the process. Devon quickly steadied me. Maggie, meanwhile, pretended to look hurt as we made our way towards the main doors of the school.

"Well, jeez...**SOMEBODY'S** being a real party pooper." she said, nudging me in the ribs. "Maybe you need more sleep. I heard you dozed off in English class today and then started screaming things at the top of your lungs." I felt my eyebrows raise. Damn...news travels fast around here.

"Okay, first of all," I said exasperatedly, "I didn't **SCREAM** at the top of my lungs. I lightly yelled." Maggie gave me a look that could only be interpreted as 'lightly yelled, my ass'. "Second of all," I continued in a slightly higher voice, "Maybe I wouldn't be having these outbursts if I wasn't daydreaming about the Spring Break I'm being forced to spend in motherfucking Alabama, of all places!"

"Oh my God...are you **STILL** pissed about that?" Maggie asked, rolling her frosty blue eyes. I shot her a pointed glare. "It's not going to be **THAT** bad, Blair." she said. "We'll fly down to Mobile and I'll interview some chicks at the pageant, and all you have to do is convert carbon dioxide into oxygen while I scribble some shit down on a notepad. Easy as pie."

"Yeah...until you ask me to do you some ridiculous 'favor' that involves me jumping into a tank filled with pirannahs, or finding you a moon rock or something." I said. If there was one thing I knew from experience, it was that Maggie's little plans were never as easy as she made them sound. Her last article had morphed into a twisted scheme that involved me impersonating one of Devon's dead cousins (who, by the way, was a **BOY**) and enrolling in an all-boys boarding school for a week. As a result, I had lived for five days amongst prep school douche bags, and had very nearly been raped by the pedophilic headmaster. All in all...it had been a very interesting, dangerous, and mentally-draining week.

Maggie interrupted my reverie. "Come on! I never ask you for anything!" Even Devon, who was usually eager to jump on the bandwagons of Maggie's 'this will be easy' ploys, gave her a look this time.

"Right. I just enjoy crossdressing as a side hobby." I said bitterly. Maggie smirked sheepishly.

"Come on you guys, stop arguing." Devon interjected. "We're gonna miss the bus." We nodded in agreement and took off at full speed in the direction of the yellow vehicle parked a ways ahead. We swiftly apologized to the scowling bus driver, who looked as though he would have more than enjoyed running us over repeatedly for making him wait so long. I pushed past dozens of pairs of knees sticking out into the aisle between the seats, looking for one that wasn't occupied. Maggie grabbed my shoulder just I was sitting down in one of the only vacant spots. She looked down at me and smiled lightly.

"Blair, everything's gonna work out fine this time. Just trust me." she said in a reassuring voice. I nodded, but I couldn't stop picturing myself ending up stranded in the middle of nowhere in Alabama with Maggie and nothing but a bottle of water and the remaining stub of Maggie's eyeliner between us. The saddest part was...this scenario was not entirely unrealistic.

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><p>Later that night, after about an hour spent in denial that I was going to Mobile, Alabama for Spring Break, I had finally accepted my fate and was currently occupied with shoving everything I would need into my tiny little suitcase and duffle bag, which were the only two pieces of luggage that I owned. Maggie was "helping", which actually meant that she was just rummaging through my stuff and asking a ton of annoying questions. I hummed some Muse to myself while I packed to take my mind off of things as Maggie rambled.<p>

"You should come over later for dinner. I think my dad said he was actually gonna cook for once, and he's making veggie lasagna. Mmmm...my favorite. I can't wait. Hey, what's this?" Maggie asked out of the blue, turning around from the drawer she was sifting through and holding up a crumpled piece of paper. I squinted at it, but it didn't look familiar.

"How am I supposed to know? What does it say?" Maggie smoothed it out a bit and then began to read it out loud.

"House B class schedules. Class one." she read, "8:00 a.m. Chemistry, 9:00 a.m. History of Art..." A flood of memories poured into my mind. Maggie had unearthed the schedule for my classes at St. James, the all-boys boarding school I mentioned earlier. Maggie was suddenly giggling. I looked at her, confused. "Why is the name 'Gerard' doodled all over this with little hearts?" she asked, laughing. I felt my face flush bright red and I lunged at her, grabbing the schedule from her hands. She continued to laugh at me while I tried to regain my composure.

"No reason..." I lied, though there was a very big reason indeed. My time at St. James hadn't been all bad; not by a long shot. In fact, it had actually been one of the funnest weeks of my life now that I think about it. Not only had I gotten to play super-secret-spy by snooping around for Maggie, but I'd also met some of my best friends there. Don't get me wrong, Maggie and Devon will always be my very closest friends and partners in crime, but the guys I'd met at St. James were beyond awesome.

I'd met Frankie Iero first after he'd defended me when I accidentally spilled my food on some jerk's shirt. Then there was the adorably awkward Mikey Way who had been my roommate and closest confident. I'd also met Ray Toro, a very tall, very awesome dude who sort of looked out for everyone. And Bob Bryar, who was pretty quiet but super cool and actually really hilarious. Last but not least was Gerard...Oh Gerard. He was Mikey's older brother, and there don't seem to be enough words to describe him. Gerard is very observant, sensitive and compassionate by nature, imaginative and an absolutely amazing artist. He's also kind of...sort of...super hot.

"Now, stop digging through my drawers and do something productive." I told the smirking Maggie, re-crumpling the paper and tossing it back into the drawer it'd come from. "Here. You. Take this. Downstairs." I said, pointing from Maggie to the zipped duffle bag on the floor of my messy room. She sighed heavily, but complied and disappeared from the room with the bag. I returned to packing, and was attempting to shove my pair of black Chucks into my already crammed suitcase when I felt my phone, which was wedged into my back pocket, begin to vibrate. Giving up on my efforts to somehow origami-fold my shoes so they would fit, I whipped out the humming device and flipped it open. A text from Devon flashed on the screen:

**Can I come over?**

I stared at the message and tried to think of what he might need. He and his boyfriend, Patrick, were supposed to have been going out to see a movie and spend some time together before Devon had to leave for Mobile. I wondered with slight concern if everything was okay, but before I could reply, another text popped up:

**Never mind, I'm coming over anyways. I'll be there in a sec. **

Uh oh...this couldn't be good. I hoped upon highest hope that it was something stupid like he couldn't find anything to wear and needed my advice. It would have been catastrophic if he and Patrick had broken up. Devon's father had died in a car crash a few years ago, and Mrs. Wilde had not taken his death well. She'd turned into a pretty severe alcoholic and spent most of her time shut up in her room in their apartment. I was pretty sure that Devon felt lonely most of the time, which was why he'd been so promiscuous in the past, dragging home new guys left and right. And then, it was as though a miracle had happened.

Frankie had introduced Devon to one of his bisexual friends, Patrick, and they had hit it off right away. The two were practically inseparable now, and Devon had been seeming even happier than usual lately. It would break my heart to see all of that come unraveled again. Maggie reappeared in my bedroom once again, looking cross. "Anything else you want me to haul, master?" she asked before catching sight of worried expression. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"I think something's wrong with Devon." I said, showing her the two texts. Maggie studied them for a moment, but then shrugged her shoulders.

"Sounds like he just wants to come over, to me. Probably got bored and needed someone to annoy." Maggie's reassurances did little to decrease the gnawing concern in my stomach. I heard a car door slam outside the house, and then the sound of the front door opening and feet thumping up the stairs. Devon had let himself in and was making his way up to my room. The door flew open and Devon burst in, an odd expression on his face. It looked halfway between extreme sadness and relief, with just a touch of joy. My eyes widened, as did Maggie's. We both climbed up off of my bed and approached him tentatively.

"Dev...you okay?" I asked, reaching out to touch his arm.

"You guys are never going to believe what happened." he whispered, looking a little shaken. Me and Maggie looked at each other before taking his arms and sitting him on the bed. Maggie crouched down in front of him.

"What is it? What happened? Is everyone okay? Are** YOU** okay?" She looked like she was checking him over for bruises and scratches. Devon shook her off.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." he said quickly. "It's just..." We looked at him expectantly. "Okay...so I went home after school, right? And everything seemed normal at first, but then I saw these two police cars parked outside the apartments." Maggie and I shared a discreet glance again. Devon continued with his story. "So I ran up to our floor, and when I got to our door, there was this big police officer guy waiting outside of it.

"I asked him what was going on, and he said...he said..." Devon looked on the verge of tears. We waited anxiously for him to go on. "He told me that some of the neighbors had called the cops because they heard lots of screaming from our room. Turns out my mom and her boyfriend got into a huge fight. But when the cops showed up, they were both drunk out of their minds, and my mom kind of...well...she hit a police officer. Hard. Actually, she sort of punched him in the face, really." My jaw dropped open. There was a moment of silence, and then Maggie broke in.

"So what are they gonna do?" she asked. Devon shrugged a little wildly.

"I don't know!" he cried. "They have to hold her in jail because she 'assaulted an officer' or something. Then she gets a hearing and they decide what the penalty is." I gulped. The situation was not looking bright. Mrs. Wilde had always been a nice lady if you could catch her at the right times, but when you caught her at the wrong ones...well... Devon huffed loudly and burried his face in his hands, his shoulders beginning to shake. "Everything's just so fucked up!" he yelled miserably. I immediately threw my arms around him.

"Oh, Devon! I'm so sorry!" I said, squeezing him in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. "If there's anything we can do, just let us know. Do you need a place to stay? You know my mom would let you stay at my house for as long as you need to." Devon just shook his head miserably, his face still hidden.

"I can't." he half moaned. "The cops said I need to stay with a designated relative. Something to do with paperwork from a long time ago. I have to go to my Aunt Lisa's house, though."

"Well, that's not so bad." Maggie piped up. "Your aunt's really nice. And she makes the **BEST** cinnamon rolls. You should totally ask her to bake a pan for me-" I cut her off by giving her a severe 'not right now' look. She shushed instantly, then cleared her throat and tried again. "Well, what I meant was...everything will work out in the end. And on the bright side, you only have to stay with your aunt for like one day. We're leaving for Mobile in two." Mobile, Alabama had been driven completely out of my mind for the past few minutes. I'd completely forgotten about it. But Devon was shaking his head again. He looked up this time to speak.

"You guys, I can't go to Alabama right now. My mom is in fucking jail! I need to be there for her." His eyes welled up with shiny tears. "I know she's not always the greatest mom ever, but she tries and...I still love her no matter what."

"Of course you do!" I said warmly, "But...I'm not really sure there's much you can do for her right now." Devon grabbed my wrist and looked into my eyes with complete desperation. It shattered my heart in two and I felt my own eyes get wetter.

"I talked to the police officer who dropped me off here while I was in his car." he said in an anguished whisper. "He said there's a chance that instead of prison, she could get a court-ordered stay in rehab, and that's it." He gripped my wrist even tighter. "If there is **ANY** chance that I can get her to agree with that and go through with a program, I have to take it. I can't live like this forever, Blair. This could change my whole life."

"Oh my God, Devon! This is worse than the movies!" Maggie wailed sorrowfully, flopping onto the bed. I rolled my eyes at her melodramatics. "We understand completely!" she cried, her voice slightly muffled in my blankets. "You should stay." She suddenly picked her head up and turned to face me and Devon. "Maybe we should stay back too and not go to Mobile. You know...so we can be there for you."

"I second that idea!" I said loudly, my hand flying up. Anything to get me out of Alabama and on a couch somewhere with a pan of cinnamon rolls was A-OK with me.

"No...you guys should go without me. I'll be fine at my aunt's house. And besides, I'll have Patrick. I already called him and he said he'd come stay with me if I wanted. So...you guys go and have a good time." I felt my heart sink.

"Are you sure, Dev?" Maggie asked with concern. She may have been eager to get everyone to go with her to work on her article, but she could also be very understanding and compassionate if a serious enough situation arose.

"Yeah, Devon, are you absolutely **POSITIVE** you don't need anyone to stay back with you?" I asked, trying not to sound desperate and failing pathetically. Even Devon laughed at my attempt to get out of the trip.

"No, seriously, you guys. I'm gonna be just fine." Maggie studied him for a moment, but then seemed satisfied with his answer.

"Well, alright, but if you need **ANYTHING**, you just call us and we'll come straight home." Devon nodded obediently. Maggie sighed heavily and shook her head. "Well, I'm gonna go call my dad and tell him to cancel Devon's ticket." She got up to leave the room. "I'm really sorry you're gonna miss the trip. It's going to be so fun."

"I know I'm heartbroken." Devon said, frowning. However, he leaned in to whisper to me after she'd gone downstairs. "Like hell am I heartbroken. Now I get to stay at my aunt's house all week with my super hot boyfriend and eat her fucking delicious cinnamon rolls." I gaped at him in shock and then elbowed him fiercely in the ribs, laughing.

"Don't rub it in." I chided.

"I'm just kidding." he said, though I could tell from the look in his eyes that this was only partly true. "I should probably get going, though. That police officer guy is still waiting outside to take me to my aunt's. He said he felt bad so he was letting me stop in and see you guys." I nodded.

"Okay." I wrapped him in another gigantic hug, wishing that I could take away all his worries, but knowing that I couldn't. "But, seriously...what Maggie said. If you need anything, anything at all...you know the hotel number."

"Thanks." He gave me a quick, friendly peck on the cheek and then vanished. I heard a car driving away a few moments later and sighed loudly, massaging my temples. There was far too much going on at the moment. The angry thumping coming up the stairs just now was not helping my headache either. Maggie suddenly burst into the room looking furious. She flung her phone down in the general direction of my bed and I was forced to dive out of the way to avoid being pelted with the flying object.

"Whoa! Calm down there, Mag! There's no need to go around nearly decapitating innocent bystanders with telephones." I said, watching her pace around the room in a rage.

"Oh, those dirtbags!" she fumed poisonously. I stared at her in confusion, completely lost as to who she could possibly be talking about. "Those money-crazed slimeballs!" She turned on me and advanced in my direction, looking just about ready to kill something. I backed up against the wall and threw my arms up for my own safety. "Do you know what my dad just told me?"

"Umm...you're not having lasagna for dinner?" I squeaked.

"No! He just told me that he and my mom have important business meetings that they absolutely **CANNOT** miss all this week!" I couldn't see where this was going.

"Okay..."

"They said they're not gonna be able to go to Mobile with us! They're staying behind to go sit in on their fucking meetings!" Though Maggie's fury was scaring me, I could see a flicker of hope in the circumstance she was informing me of.

"So the trip's cancelled?" I piped up eagerly. Maggie shot me a bitter glare. "I mean...oh dang...the trip's cancelled?" I tried again, trying to add a note of sorrow to my voice.

"Of course not." Maggie said, seeming to have calmed down slightly. "We're totally still going. I wasn't about to let them cancel it. It's just annoying that they can't even set aside their stupid jobs for one week to do something with their only daughter. They don't even do anything at work! They just sit there and look important!" Damn! My plans to get out of the trip had been foiled again. I seriously suspected that even if every single plane at the airport were to be struck down by lightning and rendered useless, the **ONE** plane that would still be working would be the one flying to Mobile, Alabama.

"Maggie, I don't know if my mom will even let me go if there's no adults going with us." I knew that she probably would, but hey...it was worth a shot.

"Nice try, Blair, but my dad already talked to your mom and she's totally fine with it since we'll be staying with my aunt. You are **NOT** getting out of this trip, Blair Hunter. You might as well just accept it."

"Fine..." I huffed, "I'll cooperate." I slid off of my bed and reluctantly began to pack again while Maggie watched me with approval. Making sure she couldn't see me, I peeked at the schedule Maggie had pulled out earlier. Sure enough, Gerard's name had been scrawled all over it in my curly handwriting. I couldn't help but grin at it, remembering him and the rest of the guys. It'd been at least a week and a half since I'd talked to any of them. We'd all been so busy with school and stuff. Maggie's voice broke the quiet.

"I don't know what to do with those three extra plane tickets, though. My dad said it was too late to cancel them, but it seems like such an awful waste...I feel like we should give them to somebody or something..." It was as though a little lightbulb had flicked on over my head. The perfect solution! I turned around in excitement to face my best friend.

"I think I have an idea..."

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><p>"Way, Way, Way..." I muttered to myself as I scrolled through the list of contacts on my cell phone. Finally, I found the one I was looking for: the number of my dear friend, Mikey, respectfully labeled on my phone as Mikey Fuckin' Way. I pressed the call button and then waited impatiently as it rang on the other end. "Come on, Mikey...pick up." Maggie was watching me from my bed with anticipation. I was just about to hang up, disappointed, when I heard it pick up, and Mikey's voice suddenly filled the line. It was nice to hear him after not having talked to him for awhile...that is until I heard what he was actually saying.<p>

"For the last time, Gerard," he was yelling intensely, "I am **NOT** putting on the fucking skirt again so that you can work on your drawing! I did it yesterday, but I **WILL NOT** do it again." I froze, speechless, not sure what I was supposed to say to that. After a few awkward moments, Mikey's voice piped up over the line again, though this time it was much quieter. "This...isn't Gerard, is it?"

"Mikey...you worry me sometimes." I said, shaking my head.

"Blair? Is that you?" he said, his voice lighting up with excitement. "Oh my God, I haven't talked to you in so long. Listen...about what I said before on the phone...Sorry, I thought you were Gerard. He called a few minutes ago to ask me-" I cut him off before he could complete his sentence.

"Mikey, I **REALLY** don't want to know what he asked you. But listen, I have a question for you."

"Shoot." Mikey said through a mouthful of what sounded like popcorn or some other crispy junk food.

"Well, me and my friends were gonna go on a little...vacation over Spring Break, but a few of them had to cancel at the last minute, so we have some extra plane tickets. I was wondering if maybe you and the rest of the guys wanted to come with us on the...vacation." There was a few seconds of thoughtful crunching and then:

"Sure! That sounds awesome. St. James just got out for Spring Break yesterday, so I guess it works out. Where are we going?" I bit my lip. I somehow didn't think that telling him that we were going to Mobile, Alabama would increase his desire to go with us in any way, shape, or form.

"Well, it's er...kind of a non-traditional vacation spot. Umm...I hear they have really nice weather, though, and it's a...safe environment." I said cautiously, hoping that he would be satisfied with my vague answer. Apparently, this wasn't the case.

"Oh God, Blair, where are you going? Idaho? Nebraska? One of the other insanely dull, soul-killing states?" Mikey asked in feigned dread.

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's 'soul-killing' necessarily..." I squeaked.

"Blair..."

"Okay, okay...we're going to Mobile, Alabama. It's so that Maggie can work on an article for the America's Junior Miss Pageant." I said quickly, praying to whoever was up there that Mikey didn't give me a definite 'no' in light of the Alabama situation. He hadn't yet responded, so I floundered on, practically begging him to say yes. "Please, Mikey! If you guys don't come, I'll be stuck with Maggie the whole time!"

"Hey!" Maggie said defensively, glaring at me. I shot her an apologetic glance.

"I don't know, Blair..." Mikey was saying slowly on the other end. "It doesn't exactly sound like the most exciting Spring Break ever. I mean...I could be at home playing Dungeons and Dragons, and watching the Home and Garden channel..." I wanted to punch him for sounding so serious. And then something occurred to me. I smiled mischievously at Maggie, who cocked her head in curiosity.

"Well, I guess if you'd rather stay at home, then me and Maggie will just go to Mobile by ourselves. We'll have to find someone else to help us interview all those girls at the pageant, though..." I could feel Mikey's interest pique even over the many miles that separated us.

"Girls?" he asked tentatively.

"Oh yeah..." I continued, "Loads of them. The pageant contestants. They'll be all over the place. And we'll have to go backstage, of course. Probably into their dressing area. And I'm sure we'll have to talk to a lot of them, especially during their swimsuit competition." There was a moment's pause.

"Mom! Get my suitcase!" Mikey was yelling in a slightly muffled voice, his hand probably covering the receiver. "I'm going to Mobile, Alabama!" I heard him pull his hand off of the phone, and his voice came in clearer. "Okay, I'll go. I'll ask the other guys and see if they can, too." I smiled to myself in satisfaction. Something had told me that once Mikey found out exactly **WHERE** in Mobile we would be spending our time, he would be much more eager to go.

"Great!" I said, "So, we leave on Friday. Call me when you know who else is coming, and I'll tell you when our flight leaves and stuff."

"Awesome." Mikey said. "Can't wait. I'll call soon." We bade each other goodbye and hung up. Maggie jumped off of my bed, looking expectant.

"So?" she asked eagerly.

"He said he'll come." Maggie grinned broadly. "And he said he'd ask the rest of the guys if they wanted to come as well." I wanted to jump up and down. If the St. James guys came, that would make the trip about a gazillion times better and **WAY** more interesting. It's not that I don't absolutely love Maggie and spending time with her, but when she works she tends to get wrapped up in what she's doing and locks herself in a room to "let her creative juices flow, undisturbed". Of course, she'd most likely procrastinate and not get any work done anyways, but still...

"So if all of them come..." I continued, "We'll have Mikey, Gerard, Frankie, Bob...Ray..." My face fell with each name I said as a small problem was realized. "Oh, no! Maggie!" I cried perilously. "We only have **THREE** extra tickets! There's five guys in all." It seemed that all was lost, but Maggie's grin did not falter in the slightest.

"Chill, Blair." she said confidently. "My parent's may leave me alone all day so they can sit around their stupid offices, but there are several benefits to having neglectful, obscenely rich parental units." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a slick, silver plastic rectangle. "Such as being a credit card kid." She waved the card under my nose. "This baby is loaded with all the money my parents leave me to buy things like food and clothes, or taxi cabs and stuff. I can just use this to buy two more plane tickets, and they'll never even know. They're so rich, I suspect I could buy an entire country and they wouldn't even notice." I gaped at her.

"But Maggie...don't you **NEED** that money to like...I don't know...**EAT**. Or **CLOTHE YOURSELF**." I said incredulously. She just shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Trust me, Blair. Money is not an object. Besides, I'm pissed at my parents. I'm glad to be spending any amount of their money without their knowledge." She had a vengeful glint in her eyes. I was still tentative to use her money, though. "Well...I guess if you'd really rather not use it, we can just forget inviting the guys." She looked at me with raised eyebrows. "You know...just forget inviting Gerard." I glared at her smug little expression. "It's entirely up to you, though." she said in a falsely sweet voice. I stared from her to the credit card in her hand, weighing my options.

"Gimme that." I finally said, swiping the credit card from her palm. "Let's go buy some plane tickets."

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><p><strong>AN: **Well there you have it, ladies and gents. Chapter 1 of the sequel. It's gonna be kick-ass! I honestly can't wait to dive into this story and start thinking up some great ideas. Unfortunately, the heavy burden of school will most likely get in the way of any possibility of regular updates, but I swear to Ghandi that I will do my best to get updates up as soon as I possibly can manage them.

It's a brand new year, and I hope that all of you beautiful people are enjoying it and that you will stay fabulous like you always have been. Here's to another 365 days of awesomeness and doing things that you love. (Which I hope includes reading my fanfics. Hint hint...) :D

Cheers!

**Quote of the Week:  
><strong>"Don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go out and do that. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive." - Howard Washington Thurman


	2. Sweet Home Alabama

**A/N: **Hey y'all! We recently got done with our midterm exams, and we had a three day weekend for the end of the semester so I decided to go ahead and give the second chapter a go. :D I'm thoroughly exhausted, but I can feel my creative juices flowing. Grazi for the reviews! I'm glad you guys are liking it so far, but even if you're not quite yet, I assure you that there are even better things to come as you read on.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Sweet Home Alabama<strong>

**Blair's POV**

The plane ticket purchases had been a complete success. You know...in the sense that we had been able to use Maggie's parent-funded credit card to buy the extra tickets we needed to fly Maggie and I, Mikey, Gerard, Frankie, Ray, and Bob down to Alabama. From my perspective, however, it had been a total failure because it meant we actually had to go. Nonetheless, I was keeping my word to Maggie and I hadn't once opened my mouth to complain. Well, maybe once or twice...or three times. But still, I'm trying my best here, people! I was sitting on my front porch steps, fanning myself with the freshly printed tickets and watching Maggie struggle to stockpile our luggage on my front lawn. Mikey had called back yesterday and we'd all agreed that they would swing by my house to pick us up and then Gerard would drive us all to airport. According to Mikey, Gerard had such a piece-of-shit car that he was actually hoping that it would be stolen from the parking lot of the airport while we were gone so that he'd have an excuse to buy a new one.

I checked the time on my cell phone. The guys were scheduled to be here any minute. Maggie had been keeping me entertained for the past half hour with her antics. She'd been cursing vulgarly and quite loudly every 30 seconds or so, and was now wrestling around on my driveway with my duffle bag. "Why are you so heavy?" she shouted. "You will fucking fit in the fucking pile, motherfucker!" My elderly neighbors, who liked to spend their time sitting innoccently on their front porch, were looking thoroughly alarmed by the scene unfolding in my front yard. I smiled and waved apologetically at them, hoping they weren't about to call the police on us. Let's just say that we've had previous encounters with my neighbors that had most likely led them to believe that my family were a bunch of crazed, child-abusers with severe cases of Tourettes.

"Hey, be careful with that!" I warned Maggie as she bodyslammed my duffle bag onto the grass.

"Blair!" my mom's voice sounded from inside. "Come inside for a minute! I have some things for you." Oh dear God. I got up and made my way inside with trepedition. My mother, though never ill-meaning, had a tendency to be a bit over-protective and smothering at times, and **THAT** is putting it lightly. I peeked into the kitchen where she was standing, expecting to see her prepping something like an emergency inflatable raft she wanted me to bring along "just in case". I breathed a sigh of relief when I found that she had only a few plastic bags spread out on the counter. She smiled when she saw me. "Great...here...I know you told me not to make a big deal about this trip, but I couldn't resist packing you guys a few things to take along." I picked up one of the plastic bags and poked around inside.

To my delight, I found that the bags were filled with food! Chock-full of packages of chips, Goldfish, Fruit Loops, trailmix, Zebra Cakes, and pretzle sticks. "Holy shit! Thanks mom!" I squealed, having forgotten completely about the hours we would have to spend on the plane, completely devoid of all food except questionable complementary peanuts.

"Language, Blair Christine." my mother said sternly, but she was smiling. "I stuck in a package of vegetarian soy jerky for Frankie, and a little package of Oreos for you." I dropped the bag and ran forward to hug my amazing mom. "You behave yourself down in Alabama, missy. I don't want you wandering around the city at night, and you are not to give your number to any strange men." I could feel a lecture coming on, but was saved by Maggie's interruption.

"Don't worry, Mrs. H." she said, entering the kitchen. "I'll take good care of her."

"I'm somehow slightly less than assurred." my mom whispered in my ear, realeasing me from her motherly vice grip. I snorted and waved off Maggie's look of inquiry.

"I just finished organizing all the luggage. It's all set." Maggie informed us, looking quite proud of herself.

"And by 'organizing', you mean practicing your audition for WWE Smackdown?" I piped up with sarcasm, ladening my arms with the bags of food. "Now help me with these, and be gentle...it's food." I was handing her two of the four bags when my little brother, Chris, started shouting from the front hallway.

"Blair, your boyfriend is here!" he called mischeviously. I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up, Christopher!" I turned to Maggie. "Come on, let's go." We hurried out the front door past a smirking Chris, and a burst of happiness filled me when I saw Mikey Way getting out of the passenger seat of a beat up little silver Subaru XT. "Mikey!" I squealed, plopping the bags down in the middle of the driveway and running up to him, launching myself onto his lanky form in a hug that knocked him backwards onto the grass.

"Fucking hell, Blair!" he said, sounding like he'd had the breath knocked out of him. "Are you **TRYING** to puncture my lung?" I laughed and climbed to my feet, pulling him up with me. Mikey was one of those guys you expected to see hunched over a video game controller or getting shoved into a locker at school, which is pretty much exactly what he did. He was tall and super skinny, with gangly limbs, dark brown hair, and an asthma inhaler in his pocket at all times. To complete his adorably geeky and awkward look, he had glasses perched on his long, angular nose.

"I'm sorry, I just missed you! I haven't seen you in forever." I said, beaming and not the least bit sorry.

"Hey! What are the rest of us? Chopped liver?" The familiar voice calling from the car made my heart skip a beat. Gerard was poking his head out of the window, his raven black hair wild from being blown in the wind, and a pair of sunglasses covering hazel eyes that made even straight guys stop dead in their tracks. My cheeks flamed up at the sight of him, but I managed to keep my cool.

"Hi, Gerard!" I gave a friendly wave and his smile grew broader. The rest of my peeps from St. James began to climb out of the car as well. Energetic Frankie, who was short but with a **HUGE** personality, came bouncing right up to me and wrapped me in a ginormous hug that only Frankie Iero could master. I was surprised that he hadn't been the first one out of the Subaru on the count of all the energy he seemed to contain.

"Hey, squirt." Ray said, coming up and putting his muscular arm around my bony shoulders. I didn't even come quite up to his shoulder in height. Ray was tall, really sort of ripped, and slightly intimidating, but had one of the friendliest faces I'd ever seen. He had a light brown, curly afro-like hairdo and lips that belonged to a black guy. Then there was Bob, who was leaning against the car still, looking quite nonchalant. He was slightly stockier than the rest of the guys, and was the sole light-haired one, with a strawberry blonde buzz cut. His lip ring glinted in the sun.

"Bob, stop acting like you're too cool to hug me and get over here." I demanded jokingly. He grinned and came over to my outstretched arms. After everyone had greeted each other, my mom came out to say hello and to tell everyone to have a nice trip. She recieved hugs from everyone, as my mom seemed to be quite popular with my friends since she regularly made them food and gave them rides if they needed one. She'd recently made cakes for both Mikey's and Frankie's birthdays. Let's just say guys tend to be really appreciative if you give them stuff to eat. I then forced Ray to load all of mine and Maggie's luggage into the trunk of Gerard's car.

"Oh...so this is what I'm good for?" Ray grumbled, swinging my suitcase into the back. "Slave labor?"

"Yeah, yeah...stop complaining." Maggie said. "I had to get all this out here in the first place. Can you go inside and grab my makeup case, slave? It's in the upstairs bathroom. I forgot it." Ray wandered off inside, knowing better than to argue with Maggie when she asked you to do something.

Finally, everything was packed and ready to go. We all clambored into the car. Gerard was driving, Mikey got shotgun because he was a little bitch if he didn't get it, and me, Maggie, Frankie, and Bob were jammed into the backseat which was only meant for three people. My mom pretended not to notice that we were violating traffic laws by having me and Maggie sit on the guys' laps.

"Have a good time you guys! Stay out of trouble! Call me, Blair Hunter! I mean it this time!" she called after us as we sped off down the street in the direction of the airport. I blew her kisses out the window and then sighed heavily. Mobile, Alabama, here I come. Yay...

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><p>The drive to the airport that was supposed to have taken all of thirty minutes, ended up taking around an hour and fifteen. We'd had to turn back a total of three times! The first time occurred no longer than ten minutes into the drive, and I'll admit it was my fault. I'd forgotten the tickets. Maggie suspected I'd left them on purpose, but I swear it was an honest mistake. The second time was for Mikey. ("Oh my God! I forgot the coffee maker! Turn this vehicle around immediately!") And the third time...well, the third time was sort of pathetic. It was Bob who'd noticed that we were missing something rather important. ("Umm...guys...I don't know how to say this, but...I think we forgot Ray.")<p>

Long story short, we were now pretty late and were dashing through the airport at top speed, trying to make it to our terminal in time. "Excuse me! Pardon me! Watch out! Ooh! Sorry!" I apologized profusely as I ran like a maniac after Maggie, who was heading the group, and bowling people over in the process. I started to loose speed as I tired out from running, and Ray swung me and my carry-on up over his shoulder and ran the rest of the way to the gate of our plane. I'm sure that our group made quite a spectacle for the tourists.

Once on the plane, we found our seats and rearranged ourselves in an order that we were least likely to kill one another in. I ended up sandwiched between Gerard and Frankie. Maggie and Mikey were across from us, watching some movie on Maggie's laptop. Ray and Bob were in front of us, laughing about jokes I'm not going to repeat outloud. Gerard had a magazine, I had my ipod and my Oreos, and Frankie was chewing away on the veggie jerky my mom had packed. Life was good. "Dude...I love your mom." Frankie said gratefully through a mouthful of jerky. "She is seriously the most awesome mom **EVER**."

Gerard glanced up at me from his magazine. "You alright?" I nodded vehemently, scrolling through my ipod for something suitable to listen to. "You seem slightly less than thrilled about going to Alabama for Spring Break. I'm assuming Maggie convinced you to tag along?" I raised my eyebrows pointedly.

"Convinced me? That girl practically blackmailed me into coming. She's such a little buttmunch." I growled sulkily. Gerard chuckled at me.

"Real mature, Blair." He patted my head and flipped the page in his magazine casually. "I'm sure it'll turn out just fine. And besides...I'm coming. That makes it about a million times more fun." I rolled my eyes, but in my head I was thinking:

_"You have **NO** idea."_

"But, you know, note to self..." Gerard said quietly, shifting uncomfortably next to me. "Never wear leather pants while traveling. You have to sit too much. I think it's cutting off the circulation to my-" I managed to turn up the volume on my ipod just in time to block out what exactly his pants were preventing bloodflow to.

* * *

><p>"<strong>THIS<strong> is Alabama?" I was staring incredulously out the window of Maggie's aunt's car as we sped down a freeway. Maggie's aunt (who'd insisted that we all call her Jeannie) craned her neck back to look at me and smiled warmly.

"It sure is, sweetheart. Expecting something different?" Oh hell yes! I'd been expecting the polar opposite, in fact. Upon arrival at the Mobile Airport, I'd been picturing sweltering deserts, people in horsedrawn wagons, wood cabins instead of houses. Instead, Mobile was turning out to be quite...well...cityish. They had lots of roads (made of actual pavement, not dirt!), plenty of tall buildings, and there was not a horse in sight. My demeanor about spending my Spring Break here was considerably lighter after making these discoveries. The weather was nice, it was sunny, I was with all my friends. Maybe this would turn into more of a vacation than punishment after all.

It turns out that Maggie's Aunt Jeannie was awesome as well. She was shorter like her niece, with shoulder-length sandy blonde hair. She had the tinge of drawl that was an Alabama accent, and I found it cute. She was also unbelievably nice. We had failed to mention that we'd be bringing along five extra guys that she didn't even know, and she was absolutely fine with it. ("Oh, we have plenty of room in the house, and lots of foldout beds. The more the merrier is what I always say!") "And up here is the Reed household. Welcome to your home for the next couple weeks." My eyes followed Jeannie's pointer finger to the large house ahead of us. It was painted olive green and had a long, spacious front porch with bleach white railing. Lots of windows, green grass all around it, a couple decorative shrubs. Pretty nice place.

We slid into the driveway and all hopped out at once, scrambling to get our luggage and drag it up to the house. Once inside, most of the boys seemed to forget the we were in **SOMEBODY** **ELSE'S** house and proceeded to make themselves right at home. Frankie zoomed immediately all around the house, looking everything up and down and making excited faces every now and then. Bob flopped down on the couch in the living room, and Mikey was examining the drapes with an appraising gaze. "These are a really high quality cotton-polyester blend. I wonder where she found such a perfect match for the sofas."

"You guys!" I hissed urgently. "We're in a stranger's house! You can't just waltz right in and...start analyzing the interior design." I aimed this last bit at Mikey, who shrugged.

"Oh, don't worry about a thing, honey." said Jeannie, entering the room with a smile. "Y'all just get yourselves comfortable. That's what a home is for." I relaxed a little bit after this. Jeannie gave us a short little tour of the house and showed us where we would be sleeping. There was a guest bedroom for me and Maggie to share, and we figured we could just set up some cots in the living room for the guys. All the while, Maggie appeared to be looking for somebody.

"Hey, Aunt Jeannie." she piped up. "Where's Ashley?" Ashley Reed was Maggie's cousin, and the exact same age as we were. She was the one that was going to compete in the America's Junior Miss Pageant as Miss Alabama. At Maggie's inquiry, however, Jeannie frowned slightly.

"Oh, she's up in her room right now. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but she's been up there since this morning. I think something must've upset her, 'cause she hasn't been down. I went up to check on her before I came to get you guys at the airport and she seemed a little anxious, but she won't tell me what's wrong." Her frown deepened as she spoke, and I noticed that Maggie's face took on a bit of a grim expression as well. "But don't you girls worry about Ashley. I'm sure she's just fine. I'll call her down for dinner in a while."

"That's weird..." Maggie whispered to me after her aunt had turned away. "Ashley's always super upbeat and stuff." I shrugged, not quite sure what to say. "Oh well...If she doesn't come down for dinner, though, I wanna go check on her. She's pretty awesome. I just wanna make sure she's okay." So we agreed to go investigate the matter further if Ashley's absence carried on past dinnertime. The rest of the day was wasted away just exploring the new surroundings. Me and Maggie hazardously unpacked our things in the guest room while the guys dragged out their little cots into the living room.

"This so isn't fair." Mikey jokingly complained. "You girls get a nice comfy bed, and all we get are these little slabs of mattress to sleep on."

"Oh...I'm sorry. You're welcome to go find somewhere else to sleep if you think you'll be comfier curled up on the sidewalk outside or something." I said sarcastically. Later, we pranced around outside, made gleeful by the warm weather, looking around the gorgeous garden in the back of the house. As the sun was setting, we figured we wouldn't be true Alabamians if we didn't sit on the front porch and drink iced tea while the sun went down. We tried to be sophisticated about it, but ended up listening to Gerard and Ray arguing over whether 'Alabamian' was a real word or not. Finally, it was time for dinner. We were drawn into the kitchen in a trance from the delicious smells wafting from it. Jeannie had "thrown together" a delicious-looking jambalaya and a steaming blackberry pie. Starving, we all sat down and, to be frank, stuffed our faces.

"Oh man..." Gerard said, slicing himself some blackberry pie. "This is **SO** much better than St. James food. After going there for so long, you kind of forget what edible stuff tastes like." I chuckled, recalling my troubled experiences with the St. James meals while I had been there. There had really been no possible way that what we were eating could have been even half suitable for consumption.

"Is it really still that bad?" I asked curiously. Ray, Bob, Frankie, Gerard and Mikey all stopped eating mid-bite to stare at me like I had a second head.

"Did you really just ask that question?" Frankie said, his roll halfway to his mouth. "They may have replaced the headmaster, but they definitely haven't done away with the cooks yet. The food is as horrendous as always. I swear to God, I lose twenty pounds every time the school year comes around because you can't fucking eat anything there." Every single one of the guys nodded in agreement.

Jeannie, who had gone to go call Ashley to come and eat, suddenly returned to the kitchen, looking resigned. "Well, I just don't know what's wrong. She says she's not hungry, but she hasn't eaten anything since breakfast." She was talking more to herself than to any of us, but it was loud enough that I was able to hear.

"Um...can me and Blair be excused? We forgot to unpack some things." Maggie asked, standing up from the table. I looked at her in confusion.

"We did? What did we forget?" I asked, wondering why she could possibly be dragging me away from pie at this moment.

"You know. That **THING**." Maggie said pointedly, her eyes widening like she was trying to tell me something.

"What thing are you talking-" Maggie kicked me forcefully under the table, and I shot up from my seat, finally catching on. "Oh, yes! The thing. Of course. Right..." We both nodded vigorously.

"Well, sure thing dears. You go right ahead." Jeannie said hospitably. We thanked her profusely for the meal, and then walked slowly out of the room before bolting up the stairs once out of view. Maggie crept up to a door to the right, and lightly knocked. There was no response.

"Ashley! Ashley, it's Maggie." Again, no answer. Maggie began to look concerned. "I...uh...I have someone here I'd like you to meet. She's my best friend. I think you'll really like her." There was a long pause, but then we heard footsteps coming towards the door and a lock clicking. A face appeared in the doorway, and the face became a body. Ashley was slightly taller than I was, with brown hair and blue eyes that matched her mother's perfectly. At the moment, she was looking distressed.

"Hi." she said, looking me up and down. "I'm Ashley. You must be Blair?" I nodded in assent. She grinned a little bit. "Oh, Maggie's told me all about you." I looked over at my best friend with raised eyebrows.

"I'm sure she has..." I said slowly while Maggie chuckled. Ashley opened the door a little wider and allowed us to step into her bedroom. It looked like something out of a movie. The walls were painted bubblegum pink and everything was fluffy, puffy, or sparkly. Kind of like a gay man and a pregnant lady had collaborated as the interior decorators.

"So, cuz'..." Maggie said, leaning against the wall and folding her arms across her chest. "What's the deal? Your mom said you've been locked in here all day. What happened?" Ashley's face became worried again and she bit her lip.

"It's nothing you guys should be worrying about. Honestly. I just..." I saw her eyes dart in my direction apprehensively.

"Don't mind Blair." Maggie said, catching the glance as well. "She won't tell anybody. Whatever is said in this room, stays in this room." I nodded at Ashley encouragingly, hoping to make her feel a little less awkward. She let out the breath she'd been holding and then started talking like she'd been waiting to spill the beans for weeks.

"Okay, so you know the America's Junior Miss Pageant?" Me and Maggie nodded. "Well, duh, of course you do...You're writing an article on it. But anyways...so I went downstairs for breakfast this morning, and I decided to get the mail. Well, I found one addressed to me so I opened the envelope and inside was this little picture of me with the eyes all scratched out and a bunch of awful things written all over it in lipstick or something." I exchanged a heavy look with Maggie, who'd straightened up off of the wall.

"Do you still have them?" she asked.

"Yeah." Ashley walked over to her nightstand and pulled the top drawer open. She then handed a small envelope to us. The envelope was indeed addressed to Ashley Reed. There was a single stamp in the corner and no return address. I felt my jaw drop open just slightly when the photo slid out into Maggie's palm. It depicted a smiling Ashely, except it appeared that someone had scratched off her eyes with their fingernail. The words "**Miss Alabama: Ugly Whore**" were scribbled on it in scarlet lipstick. The whole thing was extremely disturbing.

"Oh my God!" I said incredulously. "Who the hell would do that?"

"I don't know!" Ashley cried, sounding helpless. "I figured it was someone else in the pageant just trying to scare me, so I called the people in charge of organizing the pageant and they said that a bunch of other girls called in saying that they got pictures like these, too." I was staring down at the image with horror when I noticed Maggie analyzing it with anger, but a hint of intrigue.

"Ooh, this is some freaky shit." she said excitedly. "It's like in that one horror movie where all the girls in that sorority house get notes like these and then some psycho guy comes around with an axe and kills them all. You know which one I'm talking about, Blair?"

"Maggie! Not helping!" I said, hardly able to believe that she could be talking about the possibility that a serial killer was going to come for Ashley when she was obviously incredibly freaked out.

"Sorry, sorry...But seriously. People usually only get threats if somebody's intent on doing something bad to them." Ashley was looking highly alarmed.

"Maggie, come on. Whoever did this is probably just some insecure, stuck-up bitch who wants to scare the competition so they get paranoid and don't want to compete anymore." Ashley, however, interjected my reassurances.

"No, Maggie's right. This stuff happens all the time in beauty pageants. Some girls'll do anything to win. Even if it means eliminating the competition. The woman I spoke to when I called the pageant directors' office said she really wasn't supposed to tell me this because they didn't want us to get freaked out, but Miss Washington actually got a **CALL** threatening that if she came to Mobile for the pageant, she'd be the first to go. I don't think anybody else got called."

"Aha!" Maggie said, a familiar light coming into her eyes. "So they pick off the pageant girls one by one, while still keeping everyone frightened at the same time so as not to draw too much attention to one target in particular. That's smart, actually." I rolled my eyes and turned to Ashley.

"Ashley, I really don't think you have anything to worry about. I mean, maybe just keep your eyes open for anything suspicious, but its most likely just some sick practical joke. Who knows, maybe some loony that's not even in the competition sent these to all the contestants for fun. People are nuts these days." My words did nothing to ease Ashley's tense demeanor. She continued to look back and forth between us and the envelope.

"I don't know, Blair. This seems serious..." Ashley said tentatively, wringing her hands. "I mean, you hear about pageant sabotage all the time. It's always in some newspaper or another..." By the time I realized what Ashley had just implied, it was too late. Maggie's interested perked up tangibly and she shuffled forward and grabbed her cousin by the shoulders, her eyes wide with anticipation.

"In the news? You mean...like...people will pay people to write articles about it?" Ashley looked startled.

"Well, yeah, I guess. The newspapers around here are real gossipy. They'd jump at a chance to have something as grimy as inter-pageant sabotage on the front page." Maggie's lip began to quiver with excitement.

"F-f-front page?" she stammered. "Front fucking page!" I slapped my hand to my forehead, wishing I could turn back time to before Ashley had mentioned anything about any newspapers, but knowing that the damage had been done. "So like, if I could somehow get the dirt on whoever's threatening everyone, you think I could get published on the front page?"

"I suppose if it was dramatic enough. I doubt you'd be able to just write about us getting these freaky little pictures, though. It's creepy, but it's not exactly breaking news. You'd have to find more evidence of foul-play, but that'd be hard to do unless you got somebody **INTO** the pageant to dig around for you. You know...like an undercover agent." Ashley laughed at this statement, but I was fairly certain I'd just had a small stroke. Because, by God if I knew my best friend, I knew what was coming next.

There was a moment's pause, and then Maggie slowly released Ashley, spinning around to look at me. My eyes widened like a deer in the headlights as she began to open her mouth. "No!" I cried. "Absolutely not! There is no way in hell!"

"Oh, come on, Blair!" Maggie whined, putting on her best pouty face.

"You promised." I said severely, glaring at her. "You said there would be no mischief. You promised to behave, and that all I would have to do would be to chill out while you asked some questions."

"I know, I know, but that was before I found out that there was a freaking psycho on the loose at the pageant!" She waved her arms around in a frenzy as she spoke and I knew I was fighting a losing battle. I always did.

"Maggie, nooooo..." I groaned, and I flopped down on Ashley's bed. "Please don't make me do this again."

"Again?" Ashley piped up in confusion.

"Don't ask." I advised her. "You promised me that I would still be able to have a Spring Break even though you dragged me here." I saw her pleading expression falter slightly, and she almost appeared sympathetic, maybe even guilty. I was going to jump at the chance to talk her out of it when I was counter-attacked by none other than Ashley. These hoes were tag-teaming me!

"Blair...I'm not entirely sure what's going on here, but...if she's talking about entering you into the America's Junior Miss Pageant, well...I think that's actually a really smart idea." I banged my head repeatedly against the bed post. There was no way this was happening. It was just another one of my nightmarish daydreams. Maybe I was in a pie coma from dinner. Anything seemed better than accepting this as reality. "I just have this feeling." Ashley's voice was deep with angst. "I'm worried. Not just about me, but about all these girls. Especially the one that got the call. There's this...this...worried tingle in the pit of my stomach that tells me something's not right here. I think we need to have somebody keep an eye on things."

"So call a security guard or something." I said with exasperation, wondering why it was always **ME** who had to do the dirty work. "You know, they pay people to do this shit. Or why can't Ashley just be a spy? Why can't **YOU** enter into the pageant?" I demanded accusatorily, pointing at Maggie from where I was laying. She bent her flaming red head down close to mine.

"Blair...you are the best snooper that ever lived. Seriously, I think you should be a spy when you're older. Ashley would have no idea what she was doing. Plus, you're way prettier than I am. You have a much better chance at getting far in the pageant than I do." I paused and thought this through.

"Well, I can't argue with that-Hey!" I'd suddenly caught on to what she was attempting to do. My eyes narrowed to slits. "Your flattery sickens me." Maggie sighed in exasperation.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know I'm asking alot of you, and I know I always do. This is bigger than just some stupid school newspaper, though. This is the real shiznap!"

"Maggie, no!" I said defiantly. Her face fell instantly. I could see so much burning need to do this article in her eyes that I began to feel like the fucking Grinch that stole Christmas. I looked from my best friend in the whole wide world to her obviously anxious cousin and suddenly felt that my little Grinchy heart had grown three sizes that day. I threw my hands up in the air in surrender.

"Fuck it. I'll do it." Maggie lept up from her bending stance and began to jump around the room. I hung my head and thought about what I'd just agreed to. Maggie then jumped ontop of the bed and started bouncing up and down.

"You are the bestest best friend **EVER**! I love you! I love you!" she cried at the top of her lungs.

"Yeah, yeah..." I grumbled, "You owe me like...a lifetime supply of Muse tickets, though." I recalled the reward I'd recieved for my last bout of troubles. "And a huge-ass bag of Oreos."

"I will buy you a bag of Oreos for every day of the year! I will purchase an Oreo factory with my stupid parents' money and have the factory produce Oreos with your face imprinted on them!" I found myself laughing slightly in spite of the dread I was feeling.

"How are we even going to do this?" I asked, now considering the many complications we faced. All of the contestants for each state had already been chosen. What were we going to do? Invent another state? Ashley cleared her throat.

"I think I might be of some assistance." she said, grinning hopefully.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Well there you have it. I hope it's up to par. It's like...1 a.m. on a Sunday night right now, and I'm sitting here hunched over at my laptop with cup o' tea and I think I've been sitting here for two hours. Now THAT is dedication, bitches. :D I actually found myself cracking up several times during this chapter, so I hope you did the same. Sometimes I can't tell if something is truly funny or if it's just my eccentric sense of humor. But seriously...wouldn't Oreos with your face on them be kind of awesome?

Let me know how you liked it! (AKA: Review)

P.S. I was bored in class the other day, so I made this "Find Your Stripper Name" thing. It's basically just a name key and you give certain letters of your name, and those letters correspond with words that make up your stripper name. It's hilarious. Mine is Kitty Nightfire. LOL. If you want to know yours, PM me or stick it in your rewiew. Just tell me that **first** letter of your **first **name, the **first** letter of your **middle** name, and the **first** letter of your **last** name. It comes out pretty sweet. And plus, if you ever consider entering the stripper profession, you'll know what your name could be!


	3. What's Blonde, Manipulated, and Clumsy?

**A/N: **Okay, so I was just watching Legally Blonde, and that movie is seriously like...one of my favorite movies in the entire universe. The first time I saw it, I thought it was gonna be the stupidist shit ever, but it turned out that it was fucking awesome. My two favorite parts are when they're practicing the bend and snap in the hair salon, and then when they're in the courtroom and the gay guy's like "No...no...Chuck is just a friend." and Chuck stands up in the audience and yells "You bitch!" at the top of his lungs. Funniest thing ever!

Anyways...enough ranting about my movie endeavours. It's story time!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: What's Blonde, Manipulated, and Clumsy?<strong>

**Blair's POV **

"Are you sure you wanna do this, Ashley?"

"Positive. Besides, I really don't feel like getting mixed up in all this drama. I don't wanna end up hurt or something."

"Oh right...so it's okay for **ME** to get hurt. I see how it is." I grumbled, butting in to Maggie and Ashley's conversation. We were piled into Ashley's tiny car, staring out of the windows apprehensively at the building that served as the headquarters for the America's Junior Miss Pageant.

"Man, we are so lucky that this thing is based out of Mobile. Makes everything a hell of a lot easier." Maggie said, looking excited at the prospects of what we were about to do. Since I was going to be entering the aforementioned pageant, we had figured out that we were going to have to face several obstacles that came along with registering someone who well...wasn't supposed to registered. All of the contestants from each of the 50 states had already been selected after competing in their state chapters of America's Junior Miss. Since I was not one of those girls (imagine that), that meant we had two options.

A) Kill one of the other contestants, hide her body, and then assume her identity

OR

B) Sneak into the offices of the America's Junior Miss Pageant and somehow hack into the computers to make **ME** Miss Alabama instead of Ashley

We weren't feeling particularly ambitious or murderous at the moment, so we'd decided to go with Option B. Ashley had adamantly assured us that she didn't mind that I would be taking her place in the pageant. She'd said that it'd never really been a huge deal to her anyway, and also that she valued her safety over any trophy that she had just a small chance of winning. Apparently, my safety wasn't much of a concern.

"Okay." Maggie said, "Here's the plan. Ashley and I are going to enter through the front door, and she is going to distract whoever is working at the desk while I sneak past and unlock the Employee's Only side door. That's where you come in, Blair. You and I are going to tip toe into the back room and find a computer. I'm gonna hack on while you keep look out-"

"Hey! No way!" I interrupted. "If I'm being forced to enter this stupid thing, I get to hack on while **YOU** keep look out, missy." Maggie rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Fine...**YOU** hack on while I keep look out. You'll find Ashley's information and change it to yours. You can keep the address the same and stuff, but change the name and picture to yours. Here." She handed me a small, blue rectangle. "It's the flash-drive with your picture on it." Ten minutes prior to leaving the Reed household, we'd crammed ourselves into a bathroom and taken what we hoped was a semi-flattering picture of me and then loaded it onto a flash drive. I would probably look like a hobo compared to the other girls, but...oh well.

"Won't they realize that something's up when they look at the registry and see that Miss Alabama is a completely different person than she was yesterday?" I asked, gliding my fingers nervously over the flash-drive. Ashley shook her head.

"Please...these poor people are so overworked and busy by the time it gets this close to the pageant that they probably wouldn't notice if Miss Alabama was suddenly a hippopotamus. Trust me. They won't realize a thing." I hoped desperately that she was right.

"Alright. Let's do this." Maggie said determinedly. All three of us got out of the car and stepped onto the sidewalk. We took a collective deep breath and then set off to do our parts. Maggie and Ashley strolled through the front door of the building, and I snuck around into a side alleyway to a faded green door with the words **Employee's Only **on it in peeling black letters. The only thing left to do now was wait patiently. I leaned against the grimy wall and began to ponder how the guys would react when we told them our plan. After me, Maggie, and Ashley formulated it last night, we hadn't filled anyone else in on anything. All three of us had left the house this morning after breakfast with the cover story that we were headed to the mall. I hated to leave the boys to mope around the house all day, but if I'd so much as mentioned the words "secret mission", they would've all clamored to come along. Eight people trying to complete one task with any premise of silence is damn near impossible.

The door suddenly popped open and Maggie's face became visible through the crack. "Come on." she hissed, motioning for me to come in. "Ashley's talking to the woman behind the desk, but I don't know how long she can hold her off." I crept into the dimly lit room that resembled an employee break area. There was a little fridge in the corner and a couple of tables and chairs. A heavily abused coffee maker sat on a counter covered in a thick layer of crumbs and coffee stains. The whole room reeked of stale cigarette smoke. I tried to breathe without choking. Maggie slid the door closed quietly and we both made our way out of the break room and into the main part of the office.

I could hear Ashley from the front room, talking to someone in a ditzy voice. "So...what you're telling me..." she was saying slowly, as though confused, "Is that this **ISN'T** Taquita's Taco Shack?"

"Does this **LOOK** like a Taquita's Taco Shack? There are no tacos here. I don't even think we have cheese!" an exasperated voice was snapping back.

"Well, if you don't have cheese," Ashley continued, "That's okay. I'll just have a taco without cheese." There came a sound like somebody banging their head against a wall, and I fought to suppress giggles as we passed on in search of a computer. Maggie prodded my shoulder and pointed to the left. An ancient computer screen was perched on a rickety old desk. I grinned.

"Okay, I'll go get my info in. You stay here and warn me if that woman is coming." Maggie nodded and I crawled over to the computer, blew some dust off of the keyboard and switched it on. Immediately, a password login popped up. "Ummm..." It hadn't even crossed my mind that I would have to guess the password. But time was wasting away. I frantically typed in the first word that popped into my head: **tacos**. Unsurprisingly, I had no success. I tried again: **12345**. Nope. This continued on for another minute or so. I tried everything from **cupcake **to **ironbuns**, but nothing seemed to be working. I could feel myself getting more nervous by the second.

That's when there came the frightening sound of heels clicking towards the back room. Maggie clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes bugging, and grabbed me by the wrist, yanking me painfully behind several stacks of boxes. "Okay! I'm checking for those tacos!" A woman's voice entered the room. She wasn't visible to me, but I could hear her shoes clicking around. "Tacos...yeah right. I'm calling the cops on you, you crazy girl." she muttered. I heard a phone being picked up off of its cradle. My heart hammered in my chest. She was calling the police! We were all going to be arrested. I waited for the sound of dialing, but it didn't come. "What in the hell?"

A tall lady with a face like a bird came partially into my line of vision as she stooped over the computer I'd been attempting to hack onto. Maggie pulled me further backwards behind the boxes to avoid being seen. "I could've sworn I turned this off. These blasted computers. And they log off every time..." She typed a few digits on the keyboard, and I suddenly heard the beautiful chimey noise that signaled that the computer was logging on. The next noise I heard nearly gave me a heart attack, though. There was a loud crashing noise from the front room where Ashley must've still been. The woman jumped up and groaned before dashing out to the front.

"Go! Go!" Maggie hissed, pushing me towards the now vacant computer. I studied the screen for a moment and then spotted a little icon titled **Pageant Registry**. I double clicked and hurriedly found Ashley's name on the list. A few minor changes, a freshly uploaded picture of me, and it was complete. I was now officially Miss Alabama. "Now come on. Let's get out of here." Maggie and I high tailed it out of the office, back through the Employee's Only door, out of the alley and saw Ashley running towards her car. We followed suit and all jumped in at once. Ashley looked frantic, forgetting her seatbelt and slamming down on the gas. We sped away from the office building, our breathing still heavy and our palms slick with sweat.

* * *

><p>"Hold up. You're going to <strong>WHAT<strong>?" Gerard gaped at me from across the room where he sat, looking awkward dressed in all black and sitting on a little cot with floral sheets and a pillow with a Care Bear on it. Ashley's old bedding had been graciously donated to cover cots for Gerard, Frankie, Ray, Mikey, and Bob. I believe Mikey was lucky enough to get his hands on the sparkly unicorn pillow.

Me, Maggie and Ashley had returned just moments ago from our registry endeavour and I figured it was now or never that we let the boys in on our little plot. I don't think they were quite taking it all in at the moment. All five of them stared at me with eyebrows raised sky high. I sighed and tried once again to explain. "Okay...I'll say it **REALLY** slow this time. Ashley got this creepy voodoo letter yesterday, and Maggie thinks it has something to do with the pageant, so-" Gerard held up his hand to stop me.

"No, no, we understand that part, but...let me get this straight. To solve the problem...you've entered yourself in a national pageant as Miss Alabama and are now going to compete against a bunch of professionally trained girls, one of which may be a complete mental case trying to kidnap and possibly harm you?" There was a long pause.

"Well...yeah, I guess it could be interpreted as that." I said slowly. Gerard's eyebrows shot up another level on his pale forehead.

"And when exactly is this pageant?" he asked. I pressed my lips together.

"Umm...tommorow." This statement came out of my mouth and it felt as though a sack of bricks had just fallen on my chest. Oh yeah...the whole pageant started tomorrow. Whoops.

"Jesus Christ." Gerard brought his hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose like my grandpa does when my grandma beats him at poker.

"Holy shit, you guys!" I said, jumping around frantically. "It starts tomorrow! Maggie, we really need to start planning these things out ahead of time!" I had no idea what I was doing. I hadn't rehearsed any speeches, I didn't have any pageant-worthy clothing, I couldn't even** REMEMBER** the last time I'd put on a pair of heels without falling flat on my face. This was a complete disaster! I was zooming around the room in a nervous pace, straightening couch pillows and organizing magazines like Martha Stewart on steroids.

Mikey jumped up from his cot and grabbed both of my wrists so that I was forced to come to a still. "Blair, chillax." he said soothingly. I wanted to tear his stupid flat-ironed hair out. Sure, it was easy for him to say 'relax'. **HE** didn't have to compete in the America's Junior Miss Pageant! Ashley, however, seemed to agree with Mikey's suggestion.

"The only thing that's tomorrow is the Arrival Ceremony at the Mobile Regional Airport." she said.

"Ooh! That sounds fancy. What is it?" Maggie inquired from the ground, having flopped down there like the useless girl she is when it comes to negotiations like these. Ashley snorted.

"It's not really fancy at all. You just get dolled up and last year's winner calls all of y'all's names and you get the declaration of Distinguished Young Women Day." I wrenched my wrists out of Mikey's grip.

"The declaration of **WHAT**, now?" I said, praying that it wasn't going to be some big, long poem I was supposed to memorize by heart.

"The declaration of Distinguished Young Women Day. It sounds important, but all it is is just a laminated piece of paper with some words on it an a couple signatures. Don't worry about it. You don't even have to say anything." Ashley came over to me and looked me up and down. "Now," she said, "What sort of pageant experience do you have?"

"Um...when me and Maggie played Barbies when we were little, my Barbie would always win her college sorority wet t-shirt contest." I offered sheepishly.

"And even **THEN** that's only because your Barbie slept with the judge!" Maggie cried, her face buried in the carpet.

"Oh dear." Ashley said. "We have a lot of work to do." I frowned. What was that supposed to mean? "But that's okay! We can make it work. We'll just have get you some clothes and take the colors out of your hair for starters..."

"What!" I shouted. "Are you kidding me? Why do I have to take the colors out of my hair?" Ashley looked taken aback.

"Here we go." Ray muttered.

"Well...it's not really...customary for the contestants to have multicolored hair." Ashley spoke slowly and carefully, like she was afraid I might lash out and punch her in the face. Smart girl. When it came to my hair, I had a tendency to get violent.

"Maggie!" I fumed. As far as I was concerned, anything that annoyed me from this point onward was perpetually her fault. She groaned and hoisted herself upward to look at Ashley.

"Will she have a better chance at making it farther in the competition if she has regular hair?" she asked straightforwardly, completely ignoring my rage.

"No doubt. The judges are usually pretty traditional. Trust me, everything will run a whole lot smoother if her hair's normal." Everyone in the room looked at Maggie as though waiting for the final verdict.

"It's settled then. Blair, we're dying your hair back to normal." I threw my hands up in the air.

"Well, I'm glad to know I have a say in something!" I exclaimed sarcastically.

"Stop whining." Maggie said sternly, standing completely upright. "I'll pay for it to get dyed back when we're done." This made me feel slightly better, but I wanted to make Maggie feel as guilty as possible so I plopped down next to Frankie on his cot and stuck out my lower lip in a sulky-pout face. She was not effected whatsoever, and proceeded to ask further opinion of Ashley. "So what exactly do we have to do to prepare for this sort of thing?"

"First thing's first, she needs the proper clothes. I'm talking all-out here. We need a few summer dresses, a couple evening gowns, a swimsuit, a few extras. Not to mention shoes and accessories. You name it we need it." Ashley explained, ticking off each item on her fingers. My eyes bugged.

"Where the hell are we supposed to get the money to buy all this stuff?" I asked incredulously.

"It's a good thing you have me." Maggie piped up proudly. "'Cause I have access to the unlimited flow of cash from the prestigious bank of Mommy and Daddy." Ashley smiled and nodded at this.

"Perfect. Once we get all of the appearance stuff in order, we can just go from there. There'll be interviews and stuff, but that's not for another couple days. We've got time. Oh, and since you're a contestant now, you'll get to stay in this super nice hotel with the other girls."

"Would it be possible..." Mikey said casually, "Hypothetically, for, say, **ME**...to also stay in said hotel with all these girls. You know...hypothetically." Ashley laughed.

"I suppose if you were her pageant consultant."

"What's that?" Frankie asked.

"It's like the person who guides you through the pageant. Tells you what to say in interviews, helps you with your hair and makeup. The whole shebang."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Gerard practically squealed, his hand shooting up in the air like a student who desperately wanted to answer a question. "I call that job! That one is totally mine, boys!" He grinned mischievously.

"No fair!" Mikey cried, "Why do you get it?"

"Umm...duh. I'm the gayest one here."

"Can't argue with that." Bob said cooly from the couch. Mikey whipped around to Ashley.

"What about if Blair had a pageant consultant **TEAM**? All five of us could stay in the hotel!" Ashley looked like she was thinking.

"I don't see how they could object. Other girls sometimes have more than one consultant." Mikey did a victory dance at this news.

"Gonna be in a hotel with hot girls. Gonna be in a hotel with hot girls." he sang to himself as he did a poor rendition of the sprinkler. We all laughed. Even I broke out of my pout mode to chuckle a little bit. Gerard, however, swept over to me with a look of determination on his face. My heart started beating a tad bit faster when he grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. I was practically pressed flat against him thanks to the limited space in the living room with all the cots set up.

"Okay, but I still get to be the head consultant." Gerard announced to everyone. "And I say we get this show on the road." He tightened his grip on my forearm. "Come on, Blair. I'm gonna make you **BEAUTIFUL**."

"Hey!" I started, but I was hardly able to protest before I was pitched headfirst into a bathroom and heard the door slam shut.

* * *

><p>"Hold still. Goddamit, if you move again, I'm gonna end up gouging your eyes out with this thing." Gerard was bending over me with a mascara wand, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. He swiped the mascara a few times on my lashes, and then stood back to admire his work. The flourescent lighting above the mirror behind him glowed and illuminated his features so that they looked even more sharply defined then before. The effect was mesmerizing. I couldn't help but stare, though I tried to make it seem like I was just examining the green wallpaper of the bathroom.<p>

"You look great, if I do say so myself." Gerard said, grinning. "But you're all sweaty, and you look a little nervous. Are you okay?" I quickly snapped out of my daze. I was sweaty? Oh dear lord...how embarrassing.

"Uh, no reason! It's just warm in here." I said defensively, wiping my moist palms on the pant legs of my worn out jeans. Gerard, thankfully, turned around to put away the countless products he'd just administered to my face. Don't ask me how or why that boy knows so much about makeup, but me and him had been locked in Ashley's cramped little bathroom for the last two hours. I'd been poked, prodded, and scolded continuously by my "makeup artist", and I was half afraid I was going to look in the mirror and see a hooker staring back at me. And I'm not even going to mention the ordeal I underwent after Maggie ran to the store and brought back a box of hair dye that Gerard had requested. He'd been an annoying asshole and wouldn't let me see what color it was.

"Alright! You are finished. Take a look." Gerard steered me from my spot on the edge of the bath tub to stand in front of the mirror. I'm fairly sure I almost passed out at the sight. The makeup was fine. It was a shit-ton of makeup, but it looked good. No, the makeup A-ok. It was my hair that nearly induced unconsciousness.

"You...my hair..." I stuttered wordlessly. "It's...it's..."

"Blonde! I know!" Gerard finished for me, looking elated. I simply continued to stare openmouthed at my unfamiliar reflection. Oh, I was blonde alright. Where my multicolored and light brown hair had recently been, were now locks of white blonde. I couldn't believe my eyes. Gerard seemed to be studying my reaction. "What do you think?"

"I...I think it's blonde." was all I managed to get out. A frown creased his hopeful face, and I quickly reworded my answer. "I mean, it...it's just different. I'm not used to it. But I kinda...like it." I picked up a piece of my hair and moved it around. The light bounced off of it in an entirely different fashion than I was used to it. It certainly was strange, but I have to admit, I looked pretty good.

"I can't wait for the others to see. They're gonna **FLIP** out." Gerard grabbed my arm again and pulled me out of the bathroom and into the living room. Everyone was milling around in there, and when I walked in, everything went silent. Frankie, who had been pacing behind Ray, slammed into Ray's back after he stopped suddenly and ended up on his ass. Maggie jumped up and ran over to me.

"Oh my God, you're blonde! Now I can **FINALLY** make blonde jokes when you do stupid things. This is gonna be great." I could see that she would be milking this new blonde thing for all it was worth, and I decided to create a mental list of reasons to kill Gerard. Reason number one: making me vulnerable to new forms of harrassment. Curse him.

"Whoa, Blair. You look gorgeous!" Frankie exclaimed in a singsong voice.

"Thanks." Gerard and I said in unison. Obviously, none of my beauty would be attributed to me. It was all Gerard's doing. Of course. :P

"All right, all right. Enough chit chat. We need the opinion of our pageant expert, here." Maggie said loudly and importantly. "Part the way, part the way. Let Ashley see." Maggie's idea of "parting the way" was shoving Mikey out of Ashley's line of view so hard that he fell over the coffee table and landed with a crunching noise on top of Frankie. Ashley's eyes surveyed me from across the room, seeming to scan me for any imperfections. I felt instantly nervous. Like she had x-ray vision and could see through my clothes. She eventually looked to Gerard.

"Do you think you'll be able to recreate this again? You'll have to do her makeup quite a few times."

"Definitely. Piece of cake." he replied. Piece of cake! The whole process took nearly three hours! And I was going to have to subject myself to this every day for the next week? What did I get myself into?

"Then it's perfect. Me and Maggie already picked up a few things you'll need clothes-wise, and there's some stuff of mine that might fit you. We can worry about the rest later." A thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"Hey, Ashley. What about your mom? Don't you think she'll find it a little wierd that you don't leave the house for the pageant stuff, and when she comes to watch you, it'll be me standing up there, not you?" This was an issue I hadn't previously considered. Ashley brushed it off, though.

"Already taken care of. I told my mom that I'm withdrawing from the pageant because I'm afraid that someone is going to get hurt with all these competitive threats and stuff. She's pretty cool, so she understands. I also told her that you guys arranged to stay at a hotel because their's so many of you and you want to make it easier on her." I stared at her, impressed.

"Wow...you've really thought this through." I said. Ashley smiled widely at me and nodded her head approvingly.

"Miss Alabama, you are ready for the America's Junior Miss Pageant 2012."

Yeah...I highly doubt it.

* * *

><p>"I feel so out of place. Everyone here looks like Malibu Barbie, and I look like I just crawled out of a cubicle." I straightened my skirt nervously as I studied my competitors from the passenger seat of Ashley's car. I've never seen so much hair, makeup, and clothing all in one place. It was unbelievable. The airport was packed with girls. I could practically feel estrogen radiating out of the building. Everyone else was wearing cute little dresses and flowy spring attire. I had had my outfit picked out by my team of stylists (we're talking about five teenage boys and two stubborn girls, here). I have to say, it turned out pretty nice, but I looked more like I was applying for a job as a secretary than anything else. I'd been shoved into a tangerine sleeveless blouse tucked into a black pencil skirt, and Ashley jammed black peep-toe heels on my feet at the last second.<p>

Maggie and the rest of my entourage were already inside and seated for the Arrival Ceremony. Just Gerard remained with me in the car, tweaking my hair a little bit. He was really into this pageant consultant thing, I'm telling you. When I finally climbed out of the car, I had to lean against it for support as I wobbled in my tall shoes. I had to amble along like an invalid just to keep myself upright. Gerard was zooming ahead of me at about 20 friggen miles per hour, of course. "Blair!" he called, turning around when he noticed that I was a good 50 feet behind him. "Hurry up! We haven't got all day, here."

"**YOU** try walking in these deathtraps! See how fast you're walking then, biyotch!" I shouted irately, losing my balance in my anger and plunging face-first onto the asphalt. I could here Gerard's booming laughter, and I wanted to crawl under the nearest car and die.

"Oh, honey, don't even get me started!" he called back to me. "You totally know I could work those heels." I grumbled as I pulled off the shoes and got to my feet, even though I knew he was right. For the costume ball back at St. James, he'd gone as a cross-dresser. Sadly, he probably has a better chance of winning this pageant then I do.

We eventually made it into the airport and saw a long table set up and draped in lavender table cloth. A banner stretching across the front of it informed us that it was the check in table for the contestants. I got in line behind a tan girl babbling away to who I assumed was her mother (even though they looked like they could be the same age) about how she was nearly out of hairspray as though this was a life-or-death situation. I ignored this as best I could and tried very hard not to start laughing. Before I knew it, I was face-to-face with the woman sitting behind the table. She had a clipboard in front of her and a pen poised in her hand. "You are?" she asked briskly.

"Umm...Miss Alabama." I said uncertainly. "Blair Hunter." I waited for her to jump to her feet and shout "Liar!", but she just checked off a small box on her clipboard.

"And who is your pageant chaperon?" she continued. I stared at her blankly. She raised her eyebrows.

"My...pageant chaperon?"

"Yes, the one, who'll be staying with you at the hotel? I'm assuming he or she would also double as your pageant consultant. We can't have fifty teenage girls running around unsupervised for a week. They'd burn the whole city down." She chuckled.

"Oh, that would be me." Gerard stepped forward and flashed the woman a dazzling smile. She started to laugh harder. Me and Gerard exchanged a confused look as her laugh tapered away.

"Oh...you were serious?" she asked, sounding surprised. Uh oh! We were totally busted! The lady cleared her throat and shuffled her papers. "Sweetheart, are you even eighteen?" she asked Gerard skeptically. He laughed in a totally fake way that made me want to facepalm.

"Oh, you flatter me, Susan." he said heartily, catching sight of her nametag. "Of course I'm over eighteen." This was a complete lie. He was only seventeen, and Susan didn't look too convinced either.

"I'm going to need to see some ID." she said suspiciously. My eyes widened. I could feel my palms slick up with clammy sweat again. How were we supposed to get around this one? Gerard, however, reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his worn wallet. Out of this, he extracted a small plastic card. I just caught a glimpse of his tiny picture on it before he slid it across the table to Susan. Of course Gerard would have a fake ID! He'd need it to buy cigarettes, now wouldn't he. I couldn't believe my luck. I wanted to hug him. That is, until Susan began to speak again. "Mr. Goodbar?" she said bluntly, reading the name off of the card. My eyes narrowed to slits and I turned my head slowly to glare at the idiot standing next to me. He was looking considerably more nervous than he had been a second ago.

"Umm...yep. It's erm...Italian." My urge to hug him turned into an urge to strangle him. Thankfully, Susan didn't seem to have anything else to say. She simply sighed and handed Gerard back his ridiculous card, scribbling down his stupid fake name next to mine. I smiled warmly at her before grabbing Gerard sharply by the arm and dragging him past the table.

"Mr. Goodbar?" I hissed severely. "Nice name, genius. You almost got us caught."

"But I didn't." he said with a hopeful smile. I shook my head. "Hey, listen, I have to go sit with the others. The contestants' seating is up there. See ya after the ceremony. And don't make a fool of yourself trying to get up to the podium in those heels. Face planting probably won't make for the best first impression." Reason number two to add to my list of reasons to kill Gerard: he is simply a total jerk face.

I made my way over to where I was supposed to sit. Most of the seats were already filled, but I saw that each chair had a piece of paper on the back that stated who was to sit where. I found my name on the back of the very first chair. It was obviously in alphabetical order by state. I groaned loudly, causing several of the girls to stare. As I sat down, the girl next to me turned to say hello. "Cameron Jenkins. Miss Alaska. Nice to meet you." She said this all so fast, I hardly had time to register it in my brain.

"Ermm...uhhh...I..." I stuttered. At that moment though, somebody stepped up to the podium and tapped the microphone to get everyone's attention. I was forced to fall silent, and Miss Alaska turned away looking a bit disturbed.

_"Great." _I thought bitterly. _"Now she thinks I'm completely mental.__" _

"Good afternoon, everyone." said the woman behind the podium. "And welcome to the Arrival Ceremony for the America's Junior Miss Pageant 2012." She smiled around at the audience so widely, I was afraid her lips were about to tear at the corners. "This ceremony has been a tradition that dates back to the very first pageant in 1958, held right here in Mobile. It is an honor to have so many charming, intelligent, and beautiful young women gathered here today." Blah, blah, blah. This was such bullshit. Next, she was going to proclaim that we were all winners or something like that. "Looking at you now, I want you to know that each and every one of you are already winners." I laughed out loud, and it came out louder than I expected. Everyone swiveled in their seats to look at me. Even the woman making the speech glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. I sunk down lower in my chair.

"As I was saying...you are already all winners for making it this far. After this ceremony, I hope you will go back to the hotel and begin making friendships with the girls around you. These friendships are some of the most valuable you will ever find, and they will certainly last a lifetime." I looked around at all the girls sitting near me. None of them looked exactly like friend-material. I just wasn't one to hang out with people who spent all their time in front of a mirror, burning holes in the ozone layer with their hairspray. "Though all of you are winners, their can only be one who will be crowned the Distinguished Young Woman of America. I, and everyone here at the pageant, am excited to see how this plays out. Now, here to introduce this year's group of young women, is last year's Distinguished Young Woman, Miss New York, Tammy Costello."

Rapid applause broke out as a tall girl with blonde hair stepped up. She rambled on for a couple of minutes about what an "honor it is to be here", "I'm so excited for all of you" yaddah, yaddah. The other contestants seemed to be hanging on every word that came out of this chick's mouth. Miss Alaska next to me was practically drooling, she was so engrossed. I clamped my mouth shut with my hand so that I didn't fall victim to another laughing outburst. Then suddenly, "Miss Alabama, Blair Hunter!" was being called up. I started and jumped to my feet. Everyone was watching me.

"What? Oh! That's me!" I started to walk as quickly as possible towards the smiling girl behind the podium, while concentrating on not falling. I managed to make it all the way up there without so much as wobbling very much. Haha, Gerard! Stick **THAT** in your juice box and suck it! Tammy handed me a laminated sheet of paper with lots of curly letters on it and then hugged me while the audience clapped. After that, it appeared that I was supposed to go back to my chair. I turned to begin walking in that direction, but I felt myself lose my footing, and I knew what was going to happen before it did. The podium was on a raised little stage thing, and I could see that was about to fall all the way down the hard floor.

Terrified, I flapped my arms around but couldn't stay on my feet. In a last-ditch effort not to kill myself falling, I grabbed onto the podium before crashing to the floor. The microphone was attached to the podium, so the noise was earsplitting. It sounded like a bomb had gone off. "Oh my God, are you okay?" Tammy said, stooping down to try to help me up. I was too embarassed. My face was bright red as I got up and tried to lift the podium, but I only succeeded in moving it about two centimeters.

"I'm so sorry." I apologized like a maniac and slouched back to my seat. Two men from the crowd came forward to put the podium back in place. I turned around, looking for Gerard and the others. All of them were laughing so hard, they were practically crying. Mikey was literally on the floor, and Bob and Ray were clinging to each other in fits of near-hysteria. Gerard caught my eye, and I shot him an I-blame-you look before spinning back around.

As each girl stepped up to get her certificate, I found myself praying that one of them would fall and make the whole stage collapse, lest I be forever known as the klutz of the group. But of course, they all made their way up and back with perfect poise and grace. It was sickening. When the last girl was called, she recieved the paper without causing any injuries to herself or others. I sighed heavily. What can I say? Put me in heels, and I leave a path of destruction in my wake.

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><p><strong>AN:** Sigh...I feel like that chapter was a little boring. I'm terribly sorry if you feel the same way, but I have to build up the plot before things get more entertaining.

A review would be extremely helpful, just so I can gauge your guys' reactions and opinions. Any tips or pointers on how to improve are equally as appreciated as reviews proclaiming your love for this story. (Though I can't say I'm not rather fond of the latter.) LOL, thanks guys. You're the best!


	4. Talking to Plants: It's the New Black

**A/N: **Heyo! How's it going? Long time, no write, huh? LOLs...It's the weekend up in here and I finally have a little bit of time to work on a chapter. (Yay!) I've been busy lately. I took my best friend to a Mindless Self Indulgence concert for her birthday, and that was really fun. And this morning, me and my madre went to this darling little cafe for lunch. Their sandwiches are seriously the most delicious things ever and all their bread is homemade. SOOOO good. We bought a little mint chocolate cookie to split and I'm pretty sure my tastebuds had an orgasm.

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Talking to Plants: It's the New Black <strong>

**Blair's POV**

There is a certain excitement that comes along with staying at a hotel that never fades, even when faced with as depressing of prospects as I was. I knew that for the next week, I would spend my time being poked and prodded with makeup applicators, blistering my feet in painful high heels, and smiling so widely at large crowds of people that I was likely to develop crippling arthritis in my jaw. However, I was still able to bounce vivaciously into the hotel lobby and eagerly take in all the sights around me. Must be nostalgia or something.

All of the girls competing in the America's Junior Miss pageant were staying in the Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel and Spa. Phew! What a mouthful. It was a **SERIOUSLY** fancy place. You know, the kind where you suspect that some of the sofas are probably worth more than your entire house. But hey, the pageant was paying for this, so why not! The lobby looked like a Victorian-era theme with a slightly modern take on it. The carpets were a mixture of rich blues and reds. Chairs and couches were arranged neatly around. The walls were white and the room was brightly lit from the many chandeliers that dangled from the ceiling. People in uniforms with the hotel's monogram on them beamed at me from behind a marble check-in counter.

"Blair...wait up. All this stuff is seriously heavy, you know." Mikey was dragging several large bags into the hotel, fumbling around in his pocket for his inhaler.

"You're the one that volunteered to be on my 'pageant consultant team'. Well, this is was pageant consultants do. They drag the beauty queen's heavy bags around. Without complaining, I might add." Mikey froze where he was and dropped the bags, folding his arms across his chest.

"Uh uh. You are **NOT** going to spend the week ordering me around. I refuse to take another step." At that moment, a group of girls (probably other contestants) strolled into the lobby, laughing and giggling and flipping their long, voluminous hair. After they passed, Mikey looked at me with pressed lips. "Okay, okay..." he said, grabbing up the bags again, "I suppose I could make an exception just this once."

"That's what I thought." As me and Mikey traipsed our way towards the counter, we were joined by the rest of the gang, all of whom were lugging suitcases except Maggie, of course.

"Dude, this hotel is fucking awesome!" Gerard said loudly, dropping his bag gracefully on Bob's foot and sliding his sunglasses on top of his head so that he could look around.

"Yeah, this place is the shit." Frankie agreed. Several people were now staring at us, as I'm sure we were quite an unlikely group around here. This place was for rich, classy, sophisticated individuals, and we were...well...poor, sloppy, immature teenagers. The man behind the check-in counter cleared his throat and straightened his tie like a true douche bag.

"Can I help you?" he asked politely, though I could tell he was less than thrilled with our infestation of his fancy schmancy hotel.

"Yes, actually you can, my dear sir." Maggie said robustly, sweeping forward to stand in front of me and lean on the counter. "We're here with the prestigious America's Junior Miss Pageant. The contestant's name is Blair Hunter. I believe our rooms should be ready?" The man looked confused by Maggie's strange behavior (which I was used to after years of friendship), but clicked around on his computer anyways.

"Ah yes...we have two rooms set aside. One that Miss Hunter will be sharing with another contestant and one for her pageant consultant." He eyed our group skeptically. "Erm...you have a rather large party here."

"We're her pageant consultant team!" Frankie announced proudly. I saw the man, whose name I deduced to be Jerry from his nametag, cock his eyebrow, though he said nothing.

"I'll just have one of our bellhops take your bags up to your rooms for you. Here are your keys." Jerry handed Maggie several room key cards, and then turned around to shout at a man across the lobby in a bellhop uniform. He came bustling over with a luggage cart and began piling the bags on it.

"They have people here to carry your shit for you?" Frankie asked excitedly, oggling at the bellhop. "I think I'm gonna like this place." We asked to be taken to the guys' room first to unpack most of the things. When we got to the door, the bellhop offered to take me down to my room, but Maggie had other plans.

"We'll take it from here, Kevin." she said, grabbing the cart from him rather forcefully.

"Umm...my name's Eric." he stammered as she swept into the room, Gerard holding the door open for the cart. Eric cleared his throat and tried to look casual, though I could tell he was fishing for a tip.

"Oh! Where are our manners?" Frankie said, looking at Eric. Eric's face lit up and he extended his hand. "Thanks man! You were the best bellhop ever. You rock." Frankie slapped him a high five on his waiting palm and then walked inside the room. The rest of us followed, leaving Eric looking devastated in the middle of the hallway. The room was fairly spacious, though it would be a bit cramped with six people staying in it. I'm sure negotiations for sleeping arrangements would be interesting. Me and Maggie watched as the guys bickered over who would be sleeping where, amongst other things.

"I have to spend a week in a hotel room with **THIS**?" Maggie asked me, gesturing to the chaos unfolding before us.

"Karma's a bitch." was my only response.

"Oh my God!" Mikey exclaimed from across the room. "They have a complementary coffee maker with little baggies of coffee and filters!" He was beaming like he'd just one the lottery. I rolled my eyes.

"I'd love to stay and listen to you guys fight over who will be sleeping ontop of who, but I think I'm gonna go find my room and get settled in." I picked up my suitcase and duffle bag from the luggage cart and blew a kiss to the room.

"Remember why we're here, Blair!" Maggie called after me as I exited.

"Oh yeah...because I would definitely enter a beauty pageant for some other reason." I retorted sarcastically. Like I could forget. I successfully navigated the halls of the hotel and ended up in front of Room 472. The boys' room was only a couple hallways away. I tried to maneuver my key card into the slot in the door, but my arms were so full with my luggage, that I had to smush my bag between myself and the door to free up a hand. Apparently, I was leaning a little more heavily into it than I'd intended, because the moment the little light flashed green, signaling that the door was open, it swung open and I toppled into the room. My bags flew several feet in all directions and I'm fairly sure my skirt almost fell off.

"Are you okay?" a voice squeaked from behind the corner where the beds were in the room. A petite girl with short chestnut colored hair slid into my line of vision as I blinked through the stars that had erupted behind my eyes after falling. Her big, deep blue eyes were wide as she stared down at me through thick lashes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, climbing to my feet. "Just making my usual great first impression." When I'd finally gotten my bearings back I began trying to pick up my scattered luggage. The girl bent down to help me. "I'm Blair, by the way."

"My name's Barbara Hearst, but everyone calls me Babs. Miss Maine." She stuck out an olive skinned hand for me to shake. I grasped it briefly.

"Alabama." I saw her eyes sweep over me when I said this, but then she laughed.

"Haha, so you've got the homefield advantage, huh?" she said jokingly. I shrugged.

"Yeah, well I'm gonna need any sort of advantage I can get. Trust me." I said half to myself. We finished organizing my things and I found myself standing awkwardly by my bed, not exactly sure what to do. "So...what exactly are we supposed to do now? I mean...after we've gotten into our rooms and stuff." Babs reached into her duffle bag and produced a light purple sheet of paper.

"This is the schedule of events. You were supposed to get one in the mail. Maybe yours got lost?"

"Umm...yeah, probably." I took the piece of paper and felt my eyes bug when I saw how jam-packed it was. There seemed to be one or more events every day of the week. I saw today had the arrival ceremony marked on it. Monday said something about some sort of Golf Benefit, and then Tuesday was labeled Toyota Extravaganza, whatever that meant. "Uh, when exactly are we supposed to...I don't know...**SLEEP**? Or **EAT**?" Babs chuckled.

"Tell me about it. But hey...that's the price you've gotta pay if you wanna win this thing. That scholarship you get for first place is alot of money. I'm trying to get into Yale, myself, and a scholarship would definitely be a big help. Where are you thinking about using the scholarship for?" My mind went blank. I was supposed to have a university to use a scholarship for? I hadn't ever really thought about college before. Basically, I figured I would just go wherever they would take me. I fished around in my brain for somewhere that didn't make me sound stupid.

"Oh you know...probably Harvard." I said casually. Babs's eyes grew wider.

"Wow, really? That's amazing. You must be like...a genius or something. Harvard is **SUPER** hard to get into."

"Well, I wouldn't say genius, exactly." Somehow, I think the only way they would ever let me into Harvard was if I took a job as a janitor there, and even that is pushing it. At that moment, there was a sharp rap on the door. Babs hopped lithely over to it and popped it open.

"I just wanted to let you ladies know that the luncheon will be starting shortly, if you want to make your way down to the hotel banquet room." A little woman with short gray hair had stuck her head in and was smiling sweetly.

"Sure thing!" Babs gushed. "We'll be down in a few." After the woman disappeared, Babs spun around to look at me with excited eyes. "You ready to go meet the other girls?"

"Umm..."

"Come on! Let's go." She grabbed me by the hand and practically dragged me out of the door and down the hallway to the nearest elevator. I stood nervously between her and a large man in a suit on the way down while concentrating hard on the awkward elevator music humming over the speakers. What if I messed up when I was meeting everyone? What if they started talking about something to do with the pageant and I looked like a total weirdo because I had no idea what to say? Horrible scenarios kept flashing through my mind. Many of them involved me ending up face first in a cake or placed under arrest for impersonation. "This is our floor." Babs said, and she smiled at me and stepped off of the elevator. I followed like a lost puppy.

We walked across the lobby to one of the branching hallways, which we followed, turning a corner or two until we reached the end of a line of girls leading up to a doorway. The room beyond it looked like a mass-grouping of tables. A little podium stood at the front of it. I gulped. I'd had enough of podiums for the day, thank you very much. The line of girls was slowly moving forward, each contestant recieving a nametag from one of two smiling volunteers stationed at the front of the line.

"Exactly how many times are we going to have to check into places around here?" I asked Babs under my breath, feeling like a chance for me to blow my cover was lying behind every corner. What if this would be the time that they recognized me as a fraud?

"They keep pretty close tabs on us. They don't want us wandering away into the city and getting kidnapped or something." Thankfully, all the woman did when I told her my name was Blair Hunter, Miss Alabama was write it in red Sharpie on one of those tacky nametags that says "HELLO My name is...". Then she slapped it bracingly on the upper right side of my chest before shoving me into the banquet hall. I could scarcely hear with all the chatter taking place. Most of the tables were filled up with girls who had arrived early, and I spotted a large table of food laid out buffet-style just a few feet away. My stomach began to growl. "Let's go find a seat." Babs suggested, pointing in the direction of two vacant chairs at a distant table. I was debating whether or not to just make a beeline straight for the food when I heard a rustling noise behind me, followed by a whisper that almost caused me to scream.

"Psst! Blair!" I looked around behind me for the source of the voice in confusion. All that was there was a cluster of potted trees. "Blair! Down here!" I suddenly spotted a pair of eyes peering at me from a spot behind the trees lower to the ground. Even though they were just barely visible, I recognized them immediately.

"Gerard?" I hissed. "What are you doing in the shrubs?"

"Did you say something?" Babs asked me. Gerard's face retreated further behind the plants until you could no longer see it.

"Umm, nope. Why don't you go grab the seats. I'll be over in a minute. I'm just going to, erm...look at the greenery they've got here. It's very nice. Don't see these everyday." I stroked the leaf of one of the plants with false enthusiasm, only to find that it was made of plastic and not actually real. Babs gave me a puzzled look.

"Well, okay. I'll see you in a few." After she departed to go save our seats, I bent down and shoved a clump of fake leaves out of the way, revealing Gerard's face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked irately. "You're making me look like a lunatic."

"I don't need to do that, Blair. You take care of all that yourself." He grinned as my eyes narrowed to a glare of imminent death I reserved specifically for him. "I just came to give you this." He handed me a small, flesh-colored device hardly bigger than a nickel. "It's an earpiece. Maggie got it from some kit she bought. This way, we'll be able to hear everything you say and everything anyone else says."

"And **WHY** would I want you listening in on my conversations?" I demanded.

"Well, what if you were to get into some kind of trouble? There'd be no way for us to know. With this, you're safety is guaranteed. One member of your trustworthy pageant consultant team will always be listening in."

"Oooh, I'm feeling protected **NOW**." I said bitingly. I stared at the little earpiece in my palm. "Where do I put this thing?"

"Here." Gerard beckoned me to lean in until my face was right up next his. I could feel his breath on my cheekbone and I felt a tingly sensation roll down my spine. He brought his hands up to my face and fixed the bug gently into my ear. "There." he said, releasing me when he had finished. Neither of us moved for a fraction of a second, but then I shot back as though electrocuted.

"Umm, th-thanks." I stuttered, feeling the place on my neck where his hands had been only moments ago. I stood upright. "Now stop bothering me. Everybody here already thinks I'm a klutz. I don't need them thinking I go around talking to potted plants." He gave one last smile and then pulled back into the trees. I shook off the weird feeling he'd left me with and then scurried off to go join Babs at the table, still trying to walk steadily in my precarious heels. "Sorry." I said, sitting down in the empty chair next to Babs. "I was just...Well, nevermind." She looked like she was about to ask just what exactly I'd been doing, but I was saved the awkward response by the aging woman stepping up to the podium. The room went utterly silent as she began to speak.

"Welcome, ladies. Welcome to the Welcome Luncheon. The hotel has provided a delicious looking buffet for us to enjoy. Let's give the staff a generous round of applause for their hard work." Everybody clapped politely. "Before we all dig into the food, however, I think we need to take the time to get to know each other a little better." She smiled around at us widely. "As I'm sure you all know, my name is Annette Whalburg, pageant director of the America's Junior Miss Pageant since 1989."

"She looks like she's probably been a pageant director of the America's Junior Cavewoman Pageant since 3000 B.C." said the girl next to me. I choked on the water I'd been sipping from the glasses on the table and tried to pass it off as a sneeze. Annette was a woman that looked to be around sixty, but had had so much plastic surgery that she could have been 100 for all I knew.

"Now that you know me, why don't you girls go around your tables and introduce yourselves." Annette continued. My table all looked around at each other expectantly.

"Alright, I'll go first." said the girl who'd spoken a moment ago. "I'm Crystal Monty. Miss Virginia. Nice to meet you all." Crystal was a beautiful African American girl with skin the color of dark chocolate and long, shiny black hair. Her large smile was a stunning crescent of pure white in her dark face.

"I'm Mary Anne Wheatley, and I'm Miss Texas." the girl next to Crystal piped up in a southern drawl. She had long honey-blonde hair and pretty green eyes. The rest of the table went around and introduced themselves. There was Miss Wisconsin, Veronica Townsend, who had extremely long curly dark brown hair and a milky skin tone and full lips. And then a girl named Heather Weston (Miss Massachusettes) who was olive skinned with pale green eyes, shoulder-length wavy dark brown hair, and high cheekbones with a long and slender nose. Heather seemed to be slightly on the bitter side and eyed all of us with contempt. When it came my turn to share, I could've sworn I saw her full-out sneer at me.

Our introductions were followed by a bout of silence. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving." Crystal said, standing up. She was very tall and seemed to tower over the rest of us while we sat. "I'm going to get some food whether they like it or not." She began to march determinedly towards the buffet table. Several more girls who'd been eyeing the food for the past few minutes also got up and followed Crystal's lead. My stomach rumbled again. Babs looked at me and laughed. Heather Weston, however, looked disgusted by my digestive organ's plea for nourishment.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat." I said to Babs without taking my sour glare off of Heather. I got into line behind a girl with red hair and grabbed a plate, ready to load up on food. Me and Babs siddled down along the buffet, filling our plates.

"Egg roll?" Babs offered, picking one up off of a small plate with tongs and holding it out to me. "I'm surprised they have them." She giggled.

"No thanks. I had a bad experience with egg rolls when I was seven. Never again." I said, a bowl of yummy looking potato salad catching my eye instead.

"Haha...maybe you're right." Babs said, placing the egg roll back on the plate. When we returned to the table, I plopped my plate down on the table and dug in ravenously. It was only when I looked up a minute or so later that I realized everyone was staring at me.

"What?" I slurred through a mouthful of dinner roll. I looked down at my own plate and then compared it to the others around me. Let's just say that mine seemed significantly fuller. I swallowed nervously. Was this abnormal behavior for a beauty queen?

"You might wanna ease up on the pig-out, Blair. They're looking at you kinda weird." said a voice suddenly in my ear.

"What the fuck!" I practically yelled, toppling backwards out of my chair. I put a hand up to my ear and remembered the bug Gerard had placed in it. I had had no idea that the people on the other end could also talk to me through it. I quickly realized that the entire banquet hall was looking at me with stunned expressions. I gulped. "Umm..." I said, thinking hard of some way to explain what had just happened. "Cockroach!" I screamed, pointing to a random spot on the floor some twenty feet away from me. The room immediately erupted into chaos. Girls shot out of their chairs, running at full speed to get away from the dreaded (made-up) cockroach. Screams of horror echoed throughout. I might as well have just announced that there was a bomb under the table, the way everyone was reacting.

In all the commotion, I managed to get up off of the floor undetected and slip out of the banquet room and into the hallway. "What the hell, Maggie!" I whisper-shouted. It had been her voice on the other end of the earpiece that had startled me so badly. I waited for a moment for her to respond. Suddenly, her voice crackled in my ear again.

"Well, excuse me for trying to help out a little bit. You didn't have to overreact so badly." She sounded slightly cross.

"Gerard didn't tell me that you guys could fucking talk to me through this thing! You practically scared the piss outta me!"

"Sorry, I didn't know." Maggie sounded slightly more apologetic this time. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. Several girls began sprinting out of the banquet hall, so I tucked myself behind a corner to keep out of sight. Then something occurred to me.

"Wait...how can you see me to know that they were looking at me weirdly?" I asked, looking around with paranoia as though expecting to see her peering at me through a vent with a pair of binoculars.

"Oh, I've got a couple inside men helping me out." she said mischivously. "Just peek back into the room." I poked my head around the corner, and there was Bob and Ray in the middle of the cockroach rampage, dressed as two of the hotel waiters and carrying trays of water glasses. They spotted me and waved discreetly.

"Maggie, don't you think this is a little extensive?" I asked incredulously.

"You can never be too careful. I promised your mother I would keep you safe, missy, and I intend to do just that. I'm not taking any chances here." I rolled my eyes. What did she think was gonna happen? One of the contestants was going to go nuts and start open-firing? "I know that you think this is unnecessary, Blair, but what you're doing could actually be dangerous. Some of these girls are willing to do **ANYTHING** to win, and I mean **ANYTHING**. I don't want you getting hurt." I felt a place in my heart soften for Maggie. She really did care after all. "Now stop acting like such an idiot and try not to blow our fucking cover!" Okay...the soft spot was hardening again. "Why don't you come back upstairs so I can explain how all these things work, since **SOME PEOPLE** seem to be incompetent at doing so!" She was yelling at somebody in the background.

"What?" I heard Gerard say in a muffled voice. I laughed lightly.

"Alright, I'm on my way up. Be there in a sec."

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><p>"Blair? Where's the coffee?"<p>

"It's coming! Hold on for a fucking second, will ya? Jesus Christ..." I fumbled skillessly with the coffee machine provided by the hotel, pressing buttons willy nilly and hoping that it would work. Finally, the machine made a reassuring beep noise and began making to gurgle like I'd heard many times when my mom made coffee in the mornings. I sighed and leaned against the counter to take off my high heels. It felt as though I hadn't sat down all day. Maggie'd dragged me around the hotel for the past couple hours showing all the places I needed to "keep an eye on". She was acting as though this were a covert mission and we had been hired by the FBI to do an investigation.

I'd tried to remind her that we weren't even sure there was any real danger, but she would hear none of it so I eventually just gave up. Now here I was, being ordered around by Gerard to make coffee, even though it had to be at least 8 o'clock at night. He was sitting on the bed, his entire concentration devoted to some sketch he was doing. Well, that and yelling at me to hurry up. Frank, Ray, and Bob had gone down to the hotel pool and were at this moment probably terrorizing the other guests. Maggie was on the phone with Devon out in the hallway, and Mikey was napping on the couch. When the coffee was done, I brought it over to Gerard and set it on the nightstand, peering over his shoulder to see what he was drawing.

"Whatcha working on?" He held it up for me to see. It was a jack o' latnern with a sinister smile carved into it and the words 'Keep the Faith' above it in curly lettering.

"It's a sketch for Frankie's tattoo. He wants to get one as soon as he can, and he asked me to draw up some sketches for him." I leaned in to study the jack o' lantern more closely. Everytime Gerard drew something, it took my breath away. Probably because I couldn't draw to save my life, but he was truly amazing. His **STICK PEOPLE** put my greatest artistic accomplishments to shame! Suddenly, Maggie poked her head in the doorway.

"Blair! Say hello to Devon and tell him how much you miss him!" she screamed at the top her lungs, as though she were shouting at me from across the Grand Canyon and not simply across the room. Mikey jolted awake, a frenzied expression in his eye, and toppled off of the couch.

"Who's there? What do you want from me?" He slurred mindlessly. I went over to Maggie and pointedly grabbed the phone from her. She shrugged.

"Hey, Devon." I said warmly.

"Hey, yourself. How's it going down there?"

"Oh...you know...it's Alabama with only Maggie and the guys for company. But I'll manage. What about you? Everything okay?" I'd been worried about leaving Devon all alone with his aunt when he was going through such a rough time. However, he sounded like he may have been even happier than I was.

"Actually, everything's been pretty great. Patrick's been visiting. He's over right now. My aunt's been super nice. And my mom is starting to cooperate with the rehab program. It's...it's nice." I smiled, glad to hear that things were going so well for him. "Well, I've gotta run. Me and Patrick were just about to watch Inception. Love ya!" We bade each other goodbye and then hung up. I was about to toss the reciever down onto the bed when I heard Gerard squeal, which was followed by a loud crashing noise and more squealing. I turned around only to see both Gerard and Mikey on the floor, covered in what looked to be coffee, the cup tipped over on it's side halfway under the bed.

"What's wrong now?" I asked in complete confusion, wondering how the peacefulness in the room had deteriorated so quickly.

"Oh nothing..." Gerard said sarcastically, clenching his teeth as he climbed off the floor. "Except for the fact that the coffee was hot enough to melt steel!" He glared at me as though this were my fault. "I tried some and it burnt my tongue, so I dropped it." I gaped at him.

"Well that's what you get for forcing the one person in this room who has no experience whatsoever at making coffee to brew the friggen coffee. Serves you right, you lazy bum." Mikey made a noise of pain from the floor. He, too, was soaked through.

"I think I have third degree burns." he groaned. Gerard laughed at him and I wondered how on earth Mikey had ended up in the middle of this. Suddenly, Gerard was pulling his wet, stained shirt off over his head, revealing his bare chest. I only gaped at him more, though no longer in annoyance. His skin was so white it was practically blinding. It looked like white marble. Both Maggie and Mikey were gawking at him as well. I didn't think any of us had ever seen him not fully dressed. He seemed to become aware of our stares because he crossed his arms in front of his chest awkwardly.

"Stop looking at me. You're making me nervous." He shuffled backwards until he reached the bathroom and slipped into it, concealing himself behind the door. "You guys are a bunch of perverts!" he called out to us. Mikey whimpered and pulled his own sticky shirt off, revealing his lanky, skinny torso. I pulled him up by the wrists.

"Come on, you. Let's go find you some towels." I started to drag him out of the room.

"Right, that's fine!" Maggie yelled after us. "Just leave me to clean up the coffee."

"Sounds good." I said, smiling at her cheekily. Now me and Mikey were standing alone in the deserted hallway. He looked ridiculous with his bare chest, his glasses askew, and his hair wet with coffee. I couldn't help but laugh. We walked down to the elevator and pushed the button. The doors slid open almost immediately. Instead of being able to get on, however, two girls on their way out nearly ran into us. One of the girls was none other than Heather Weston, the girl from the table who'd been glaring at me. The girl who was with her let out a noise of shock and stepped back away from me and Mikey quickly. She looked us both up and down in disgust.

She was tall and slim, with long and wavy rich brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. As far as I could tell, she appeared to be Latina and she had just about the biggest boobs I'd seen on someone who couldn't have been more than 16 or 17 years old. Her eyes locked with mine for a moment, and I knew immediately that we would dislike each other. "Excuse me." she said rudely, making a motion that suggested we move out of the way so that she could get through. Me and Mikey stepped aside, unsure of what else to do. The girls left in a hurry without looking back. Mikey oggled after the Latina one with his jaw practically down to the floor.

"Holy tits..." I heard him say under his breath. I huffed in exasperation and smacked him upside the head. "What was that for?" he asked incredulously, rubbing the spot where I'd hit him. I simply proceeded to shove him into the waiting elevator and stab the 'down' button angrily. "Who was that?" Mikey asked me in a mistified voice as we descended to the floor below us.

"Don't know, don't care." The elevator doors opened and I slipped out into the hallway. A maid's cart was parked outside of one of the rooms, laden with fresh towels. I grabbed a few and tossed them on Mikey's face. Then I took a look at the rest of the pile still on the cart and decided I'd better stock up now while I had the chance. As I crouched down to take them, a loud voice carried from the room behind us.

"I understand what I'm doing here, but my daughter's safety comes first!"

"Mrs. Wheatley, there might not even be a problem here. She could simply just be sick." It sounded like the woman who spoke at the luncheon, Annette Whalburg. I tried to remember where I'd heard the name Wheatley before, but I couldn't place a face to it. I inched closer to the door to listen in.

"You and I both know that she's not 'just sick'. First, we got that horrible little picture in the mail, and now all of the sudden she has food poisoning? You don't find that a little odd?" Mrs. Wheatley snapped.

"I'll admit it's a little strange, but..."

"Ms. Whalburg, I have heard about these girls that will hurt other contestants in order to win. I will **NOT** subject my daughter to this. I am taking her home." I heard fast footsteps pounding towards the door, and jumped backwards behind the maid cart, pulling Mikey down with me. As Mrs. Wheatley slipped out of the room, I caught a glimpse of her face and realized who her daughter must be. It was Mary Anne, Miss Texas. Her mother's honey blonde hair and green eyes were identical to hers.

"She has food poisoning?" I muttered to myself. Despite what Annette had been saying about Mary Anne just being sick, I couldn't help but feel suspicious.

"Who does?" Mikey asked in confusion. "**WHY** are we hiding behind a maid's cart?" I shushed him impatiently. I was about to stand up and try to get Mrs. Wheatley's attention when there was more shouting behind us, though this time it was directed at us. Me and Mikey spun around and saw a large Hispanic woman in a maid uniform rushing towards us, frantically brandishing a feather duster. She was yelling at us in angry Spanish, and I can quite honestly say I didn't understand a word of it, even after three years of Spanish class.

"Umm...si!" I said, trying to calm the woman down. "Cuantos...pero...hola taco favorito." She looked like she had no intention of stopping any time soon, so I grabbed Mikey and we both took off down the hallway. "Gracias!" I called after my shoulder apologetically.

"That's 'thank you', not 'sorry'." Mikey wheezed, his asthma kicking in as we ran.

"Que te jodan." I snapped back.

"What does that mean?"

"You don't wanna know."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I'm sorry that took so long! I've been making the most of my Spring Break. Forgive me. In other matters...happy Easter! And if you don't celebrate Easter...well...happy whatever it is you celebrate. National Satanist Day, for all I care. Whoot whoot! Cheers!


	5. Street Smarts and Why I Should Get Some

**A/N: **Bonjour, mon amis. I'm pretty sure that means "Hello, my friends" in French, but I'm not entirely sure. I'm just practicing a bit, 'cause I'm taking French next year. To all the French people out there...I'm sorry in advance for butchering your language. It is a beautiful language, but my interpretation of it probably won't be. Just a heads up.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Street Smarts and Why I Should Get Some<strong>

**Blair's POV**

"Just keep smiling, Blair. You can do it. Only another..." I discreetly checked the time on my phone, which I was holding underneath the table, and groaned. "Forty-five minutes." The last two days had been a flurry of meetings, greetings, assemblies, and public events. Every contestant was carted around the state of Alabama and then practically put on display at dull things like golf benefits and the Toyota Extravaganza, which was really just a car show to pimp out Toyota, and not really that extravagant at all. Annoying tourists, citizens, and creepers of Alabama alike flocked from all around just to talk to us, shake our hands, and take pictures. And then there was the score of disturbing old men that tried to look down our shirts.

Today was Tuesday, and we were at the Bel Air Mall for an autograph session. I was sitting at a cheap, rickety little table, clutching a Sharpie in annoyance and smiling so hard that my face was beginning to hurt. Little girls (and yes, more scary men) had been coming up to me for the last hour, proclaiming that I was their hero and that they wanted to be just like me when they grew up. I politely told them that that probably wasn't a very good idea, and then signed their little scraps of paper before they walked away with confused expressions. Babs was sitting next to me, and Bob Bryar was in my ear. Well...not literally, that would be weird. But...oh you get the point. Gerard, who had also tagged along, was off wandering around the mall, being his usual shopping whore self.

"Excuse me, can I get your autograph?" A little girl with blonde pigtails asked sweetly, holding out a little notebook. I tried to smile as painlessly as possible and began to scribble my name on the page. "I've always really admired you. Can you make it out to Susy?"

_"Sure, you've always admired me kid...Please. You didn't even know I existed until twenty minutes ago." _I thought grumpily as I finished the autograph, signing it _**To Susy, From Miss Alabama**_. Little Susy took the notebook with excitement and read it over. As she reached the end, however, she began to frown.

"Oh...you're Miss Alabama? I thought you were Miss Arizona. I wanted her autograph, not yours. No offense, but Alabama's kind of a lame state." She stated this as though it were the most natural thing in the world. I felt my eye twitch as she skipped away to find Miss Arizona, and fought the urge to launch myself over the table and strangle her with my bare hands.

"Easy, Blair." said Bob's voice in my ear. " You look like you're about to punch something. Let's not kill any children today, okay?" I could see him a few feet away from me, disguised as a tourist, and perched on a mall bench where he was talking to me using Maggie's spy microphone. He had a bag of food from Taco Bell on the bench beside him.

"I'm not making any promises, but if you give me one of those tacos, I might be a little more cooperative." I bargained in a hushed voice so that only he could hear me. He chuckled.

"Yeah right. These tacos are all for me, baby." he said smitingly.

"Damn you." I retorted louder than I meant to. The girls on either side of me looked at me in confusion. "Umm...haha. My Sharpie stopped working." I quickly covered, holding up the perfectly fine marker.

"Oh here...you can have this one." Babs offered me a new one. I took it, and managed to survive for the remaining time, though I glared pointedly at Bob every five seconds while he devoured his Taco Bell meal.

"Mmm..." he would say every once in awhile, knowing that I couldn't say anything back. "These burritos sure do hit the spot. Maybe I'll go get an Oreo blizzard from Dairy Queen after this." By the end of the autograph session, I was both hungry and ready to kill him. I was going to make a mad dash for the nearest fast food restauraunt in the food court, but my mission was deterred by one of the chaperones.

"Alabama!" the stern-looking woman called. "Where do you think you're going? It's time to get back in the bus. We're going out to get some lunch." I glanced at Bob out of the corner of my eye. We hadn't planned on going anywhere besides the hotel after the autographs. Bob himself was looking a little flustered at the news.

"Go on ahead. I'll find Gerard and we'll follow you to the restaurant. Maggie said she'd skin me alive if I let you go off by yourself. I find that it's best to take her threats seriously." I rolled my eyes. All of this insistance on following me everywhere was getting on my nerves. I don't think I'd been alone for the last three days. I knew it was all for my own safety, or whatever, but I still thought it was a little ridiculous. Maggie's security measures had gotten even more intense after I'd told her about the food poisoning incident. In the end, Mary Anne Wheatley and her mother/pageant consultant had taken the soonest flight out of Alabama they could manage. Miss Texas was no more.

My miserably empty stomach and I followed the rest of the group back to the waiting bus that was transporting us from place to place. I sat next to Babs and Crystal Monty from Virginia because I'd found that they were two of the least annoying girls in the competition, and they kept lipgloss conversations and gossiping to a bare minimum. As we were driving, I swiveled around in my seat and tried to get a view of the road behind the bus. Sure enough, I caught a glimpse of Gerard and Bob in a ridiculous rental car we'd gotten with Maggie's credit-card money (of course) so that the others could get around. The car was one of the creepiest things I'd ever seen. It was a big, white van with blacked out windows and crusty rust chafings on the sides. The license plate was coming unscrewed and one of the front tail lights was bashed in (cause unknown). It was a classic rapist van, but it was the cheapest one they had. Frankie had artfully made up a sign for it to hang in the window reading **Free Candy**. I forbade him from hanging it up, lest we be arrested for suspicion of pedophilia. It was currently lodged in the backseat of the van somewhere.

Our bus pulled up in front of a trendy little restaurant called The Palm. We all filed in and were directed to some banquet hall in the back with a big, long table set up and laid with plates and silverware. Picking up a menu, I discovered that they offered a wide array of choices, and even a brunch section that was served all day! I hadn't eaten anything since a few hurried handfuls of Gold Fish this morning in the hotel room as I made a mad dash to make it down to the bus on time. At this point, I would have been happy if all the restaurant offered was sauteed rubber tire. I just wanted to eat something. "I heard the cinnamon rolls are good here." Babs said from my left where she, too, was scanning the menu. "I suppose you've probably been here though, since you live in Alabama and all."

I laughed nervously. "Haha...of course. I've been to..." I double-checked the name of the restaurant at the top of the menu. "...The Palm plenty of times. The waiters here practically know me by name." A man walked past the table dressed in black slacks and a white shirt. I figured he must be on the wait staff. "Hey, Jeff." I said slickly, waving like I knew him to impress Babs. He looked confused before taking a seat with who appeared to be his wife and children. Apparently not a waiter. I flushed in embarassment and hoped that Babs wouldn't notice anything. She was thankfully too absorbed in her menu. Over the top of my menu, I had a view of the front entrance of the restaurant. I saw Bob and Gerard slip in past the preoccupied hostess and take a seat at a random table that looked, from the half-finished plates of food on it, as though someone was still occupying it. Bob and Gerard didn't seem to care. They helped themselves to the basket of rolls in the center of the table.

"Excuse me." I said to Babs, standing up. "I think I see somebody I know."

"Another waiter?" she asked in a jokingly sarcastic voice. I blushed. So she **HAD** noticed. Gerard and Bob were happy as clams when I found them at their table.

"I'm kind of loving this job, Blair." Gerard said, nibbling on a roll. "All we have to do is follow you around all day and make sure nobody tries to kill you. We get trips to the mall and free bread and everything!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm glad **YOU GUYS** are enjoying yourselves so much. This is pure torture for me. Do you know how many creepy old men have flirted with me today? **ALOT**. Like...more than is natural." I shuddered at the recent memories.

"Don't worry." Gerard reassured me. "That is why me and Bob are here, constantly watching over you." I snorted.

"Yeah, that's why you wandered off to go shopping at the mall today. Constant vigilance." I jokingly chucked a roll at him, but missed the mark by a mile. The roll ended up smacking into the back of a girl standing relatively close to the table. She spun around from the other girl she'd been talking to, and I recognized her immediately as the girl from the elevator the other day. I prickled, remembering her less than respectful treatment of me and Mikey. She looked outraged and glanced several times from the roll on the ground to me.

"Excuse me? Did you just throw this roll at me?" she asked in a voice that had me wanting kick something. Even in the dingy restaurant lighting, there was no denying that this girl was attractive. Her personality was spoiling her beauty for me, though. She looked like she was about to berate me for the flying bread product, but Gerard jumped into the conversation at that moment.

"Sorry. I think she was aiming for me, but her aim is about as accurate as my blind grandfather's." The girl turned to face Gerard and the expression on her face changed. It went from hardened and bitter to soft and almost thoughtful. Her expression surprised me so much that I didn't even attempt to injure Gerard for his comment about my aim. The girl glanced at me and then back at Gerard, her face breaking out into a wide smile. She stuck out her hand to Gerard, who took it tentatively.

"Hi. I'm Nadine Smith. I'm here for the America's Junior Miss Pageant representing Pennsylvania." She giggled flirtatiously. I felt my fists clench.

"Yeah...Blair's here for that, too. We're her pageant consultant team." Gerard gestured to him and Bob. Nadine smiled at both of them, and looked at me.

"You didn't tell me you had such nice friends, Blair." she said in a fakey voice. I bit my tongue to keep from shouting out the obscenities that were building up in the back of my throat. Nadine quickly turned her attention back to Gerard. "So...I guess I'll be seeing you again, since you're a pageant consultant and all. It was **GREAT** to meet you. See you around." She winked slyly and Gerard flashed her a friendly smile. I glared at him. He seemed oblivious.

"Well, she seems fairly nice." he said pleasantly. I let out an aggravated sigh and then spun on my heels to go march back to the table to rejoin Babs. "What?" I heard Gerard say behind me. "What did I say?" I couldn't believe his ineptitude at perceiving that Nadine was a total bitch. Everything about her emanated 'stupid hag' to me. But of course, I was immune to the powers of huge boobs. The boys, evidently, were not. I was so furious and wrapped up in my own thoughts that I didn't notice I was about to collide head-on with somebody until it was too late. I rammed into them and we both toppled onto the floor, me falling ontop of whoever it was. When my vision cleared up a bit, a cute guy with dirty blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and olive skin came into focus beneath me. We were face to face, and I was practically laying ontop of him.

When I got my bearings back (or at least some of them), I shut my mouth, praying that I didn't have bad breath. The guy smiled up at me. "Are you alright?" he asked, laughing lightly.

"Umm...I..." I nodded in embarrassment and rolled off of him, getting to my feet as fast as possible. "Yeah. Yep. I am totally fine." I stuttered. He stood up as well, smiling at me. It was then that I noticed the food on the floor. It seemed that I had knocked his plate out of his hands when I'd plowed into him. "Oh my Gandhi, I'm so sorry." I apologized, bending down to begin cleaning up the food. He stooped down and grabbed my wrist lightly to stop me from picking anything up.

"Don't worry about it." he said gently. "Someone'll get this. I just have to order another plate is all."

"Uh...I heard the cinnamon rolls are good here." I said stupidly. He just laughed.

"I'm sure they are, but I'm allergic to cinnamon, so...Probably not the best idea." My face burned with humiliation. "I'm Aiden." he said, smiling. "Are you here for the pageant?" I nodded, as I didn't trust myself to speak at the moment. "That's cool. My sister's here for that, too. That's why I'm in town. My mom's like...her pageant consultant, or whatever, so the whole family kind of came down." I studied his face for a moment, trying to decide who he resembled.

"What's your sister's name?" I asked finally, after making sure that I wasn't going to blurt something that would make me sound mentally incompetent.

"Babs Hearst. Do you know her?" I looked over at Babs in surprise only to find that she was looking over at us. When I caught her eye, she gave me a knowing smile and a wave. I looked back at Aiden, who was also grinning. "Well, I'm gonna go get a waiter and see if we can't clean this up. See you later?"

"Umm...yeah." I felt flustered and giddy as I watched him walk away. What in the hell was I thinking? I couldn't like this guy. For one, I barely knew him, and for another, Babs was from Maine, meaning that Aiden was as well. Talk about a long distance relationship. I shook myself. This was no time to be thinking about guys. As Maggie had reminded me, we were here to investigate the pageant (though my efforts had so far turned up fruitless). But my heart continued to beat a little faster than usual. Only one other person had ever had this sort of effect on me.

I snuck a glance out of the corner of my eye at Gerard. My subtle look quickly became an expression of gaping shock when I saw that Nadine was over at their table once again, appearing to be advising Gerard on what to order. And by advising, I mean leaning over his shoulder in such a way that her boobs were directly in line of his vision and about an inch from his face. I spun around before they caught me staring and felt anger brewing in my stomach. I wanted to go over there and pull Nadine away by her hair. But why was I so jealous? She was just talking to Gerard. I mean...it's not like I had any claim on him. He could talk to (or even flirt with, for that matter) whoever he wanted to. My thoughts were feeling a little jumbled, and the restaurant was quickly becoming a little bustled and overwhelming.

Babs was looking at me quizically, so I mouthed the word "bathroom" at her, and then headed off in the direction of the restrooms sign in the back of The Palm. After splashing a little water on my face, and studying my (still weird) blonde hair in the mirror for the thousandth time it had been dyed, I suddenly realized how badly I had to pee. I hadn't had a chance to all morning. I slipped into a stall and shut the door, but at that moment I heard the bathroom door swing open and two pairs of feet entered. "Hold my purse." said one voice. "I need to fix my hair." It took me a moment, but I soon recognized that voice as Nadine's. My eyes narrowed, but I sat down gingerly on the edge of the toilet, not wanting them to know I was there. I peeked out of the crack in the stall door, and saw Heather Weston holding a purse. She seemed to be somewhat of Nadine's shadow, since they had rarely been apart these last few days.

"I can't believe some of these girls." Nadine said snobbishly. "They actually think they have a chance at winning. It's pathetic. None of them have hardly any pageant experience, and none of them are even that pretty." I restrained myself from busting down the door and pouncing on her in rage.

"I know what you mean." Heather said. "We're totally, like, the prettiest ones here."

"They all try so hard, it's almost funny. Then there was that Mary Anne chick from Texas." My ears pricked up at the mention of Mary Anne's name. They were obviously talking about her food poisoning. "She thought she was all that, and now look what happened to her." They both giggled.

"You're totatlly going to win, Nadine." Heather piped up. She sounded like an obedient robot, trained to crank out compliments to her master.

"I know. I'm going to make sure of that." Nadine's voice turned suddenly dead serious. "I am not going to let **ANYONE** get in my way of winning this. That scholarship money is mine. I've wanted to get into Juliard since I was nine. None of these losers is going to stop me." Heather laughed again, but quickly stopped when she realized how serious Nadine was being. There was a moment's pause, and then Nadine said "Come on, Heather. Let's get back out there. There's a really cute guy you should see. He's totally dorky, and it makes that one weirdo from Alabama super jealous. It's pretty fun." Their feet shuffled out of the bathroom and I was left alone once again, leaning forward off of the toilet in anticipation.

My first reaction was severe anger both at Nadine for playing around with Gerard like that, and at Gerard for liking Nadine when she was so obviously a scheming priss. Then I was able to remind myself that I had been presented with some more pertinent issues at the moment. Forget the fact that she was hanging all over Gerard. It looked to me like I had my first suspect.

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you, it's her. She's an absolute witch."<p>

"She didn't seem that bad to me. She was actually pretty nice."

"Shut up, Gerard." We were back in the hotel room, and I was earnestly trying to convince Maggie of Nadine's guilt. To me, it seemed that there was no other option. I couldn't picture any of the other girls clipping out pictures of each other and writing the things that Ashley had received. Now, Nadine, on the other hand...she was probably up in her room right now, devising her latest plan to eliminate the competition. Gerard was not helping with the convincing part. He seemed to have fallen under her spell.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you suddenly seem awfully fast to point the finger at Nadine. I mean, before you wouldn't even admit that there **WAS** somebody out to get the contestants. Why are so sure it's Nadine?" Gerard looked at me pointedly and I felt like yelling.

"Because she's an evil bitch from hell!" I cried, throwing my hands up and looking to Maggie for help. My best friend just shook her head, though, and puller her Tootsie Roll Pop out of her mouth so she could talk.

"Gerard's right, Blair. Just because she's an evil bitch from hell doesn't mean she sent those pictures or gave that girl food poisoning. She could simply be an evil bitch." I heaved a groan of frustration and flopped down on the bed next to Mikey.

"Yeah, well, I think Gerard's suffering from GBS." I said sullenly under my breath.

"What's that?" Mikey asked.

"Gigantic Boob Syndrome." Mikey laughed.

"Jealous?" he asked jokingly, but I felt my face heat up.

"I am **NOT** jealous!" I snapped defensively. Everyone in the room stared at me. This only intensified my anger. "I know it's Nadine. I can feel it. I heard her in the bathroom this morning saying that she would do anything to make sure she wins the scholarship money. And she was completely serious." Maggie walked over to me and patted me on the back.

"I know you're eager to get this pageant thing over and done with, but hang in there, little trooper." I opened my mouth to say something, but she shushed me by placing a hand over my mouth. "Shh...don't speak. Just relax." She fished around in her jacket pocket for a second and then pulled out another Tootsie Pop. She unwrapped it and shoved it into my mouth. I glared at her. "There. Now, I know you think it's Nadine, but we're just going to have to do a little bit more investigating until we're sure." I wanted to argue, but it seemed like a lost cause, and well...she **DID** give me a sucker.

At that moment, a frenzied knocking began at the door. All of our heads swiveled in its direction. "Blair! Blair, are you in there? It's me. Open up." Ray, who was closest to the door, looked at me.

"It's Babs." I said, slightly concerned. "Go ahead and open it." He proceeded to slide the door open, and Babs immediately swept in. She looked ruffled and was clutching a piece of paper in her hand. She was breathing fast, like she had run all the way here. "What's wrong?" I asked. She looked around the room, taking in all of the people in it.

"Crystal told me she sometimes sees you go in here. Are **ALL** of these people your pageant consultants?"

"Pageant consultant team, to be precise." Mikey said proudly. "It was my idea, of course." Bob silenced him with a skillfully thrown pillow to the face.

"It's kind of a long story." I shrugged. "What's up?" Babs seemed to remember why she was here.

"I don't know who did it. I just found this...It was slid under our door. Its awful." She brandished the piece of paper she was holding in front of my face. I took it from her and moved into the light to read what it said.

_**To whichever one of you pathetic sluts has the misfortune of picking this up: **_

_**Let it be clear that none of you have any chance in this pageant. That money is mine. If any of you even attempt to get in the way, don't think I will hesitate to remove you from the competition. Leave now or stay at your own risk. The choice is yours. **_

It wasn't signed, but there was red lipstick kiss at the bottom of the page. I cringed at the letter and handed it to Maggie to read. Gerard and the rest of the guys peered curiously over her shoulder. "What the fuck is this?" Maggie said when she finished reading it. "Whoever it is threatening people now. This is going too far."

"Yeah, she certainly has." I said pointedly, Nadine being the only one coming to mind. Gerard shook his head again.

"Who's 'she'?" Babs asked.

"No one. You said you found this slipped under the door?" She nodded fervently.

"I just walked in, and there it was. You guys don't have any idea who it might be, do you?" Me and Maggie exchanged a brief look.

"Not really." I said, grabbing Babs by the hand and leading her to the door. "You should go back to the room just to be safe. I'll take this letter down to one of the chaperones in a minute. I just need a quick word with my pageant consultant team." Babs looked a little unsure, but left the room and headed back down the hall. I dashed back to where everyone was clustered around the note. "Nadine did this!" I said loudly.

"Blair, not again." Gerard said, attempting to help me sit down on the bed. I shoved him away.

"I'm positive. This letter is almost **IDENTICAL** to what she said in the bathroom to Heather. You heard her from her letter...if we don't stop her, she could end up hurting someone." My heart was hammering.

"Okay, so say she is the one behind this." Maggie said calmly. "What can we do? We don't have any evidence whatsoever that she's involved with this in any way."

"That's what I'm here for!" I said, for the first time in my life being excited about carrying out Maggie's plans of investigation. "You guys need more evidence? Well, then I'll go fucking find some!" I was frustrated and anxious and excited all at the same time. I began to march out of the room, intent on finding some bit of information that would connect Nadine to the threats. Gerard grabbed my arm, though.

"Oh no you don't." he said, pulling me back. I flashed an angry look at him and tried to wrench my arm away. He held on. "Blair, I don't mean to sound over-protective, but I don't want you snooping around right now. If whoever wrote this letter is serious, you could end up getting hurt. I don't want that." I felt my heart soften just a bit, but then remembered that he probably just didn't want me accusing Nadine any more. I managed to pull away.

"Oh, well, I'm just looking into Nadine. She's obviously not dangerous, since you seem to think she's friggen Mother Theresea." I snapped, and then spun on my heel to exit the room.

"Blair, I'm serious!" Gerard called after me. "No snooping! I don't want you to get into trouble." I stormed off down the hall. Who did he think he was, telling me what to do? And "get into trouble"? What was that supposed to mean? I wasn't five years old. I stopped in the middle of the hall and sank down into a corner, trying to cool down. I was just frustrated that nobody would believe me. My cell phone informed me that it was 10:00 p.m. Curfew for the contestants was supposed to be 9:30. The chaperones were obviously preoccupied with the whole threatening letters thing.

I was closing my eyes to rest for a minute when I saw a door open off down the hall. I squinted to see who came out of it. Their back was to me, but there was no mistaking her. It was Nadine. She shut her door carefully and then began to tip toe towards the elevator at the opposite end of the hall from me. Gerard's warning about snooping rang in my ears. I debated for a moment, but then climbed quietly to my feet. When Nadine dissappeared into the elevators, I briskly walked over to the stairs and began to descend towards the lobby, figuring that that was where she was headed, since she had been carrying her purse.

"Where are you going so late after curfew, Miss Pennsylvania?" I murmed to myself, rushing down the long flight of stairs.

* * *

><p>I was following Nadine in complete stealth mode. After spotting her exiting the hotel, I'd waited a few moments and then rushed out after her. We were currently walking down the street, me several feet behind her and trying to keep quiet. It was pitch black out, and even the moon was behind the clouds. The only light came from the intense street lamps that glared overhead and cast a creepy glow over everything. There were still quite a few cars zooming by on the road, but I couldn't help feeling just a tad bit nervous. Gerard's warning about my tendency to get myself into dangerous situations kept springing up in my thoughts.<p>

Nadine stopped abruptly, and I halted, diving to crouch behind a cardboard box propped up in an alleyway. It was lucky I had because Nadine took a couple of glances around before resolving to sit on a bench and wait. I noticed the sign to her left. We had arrived at a bus stop. "Hey..." hissed a voice nearby. I nearly jumped out of my skin. A scraggly man poked his head out of the box. My eyes grew wide and I scampered backwards a few feet. "This is my box. Don't go getting any ideas."

"Sorry." I whispered apologetically to the homeless man. Then I heard the unmistakeable squeal of bus tires coming my way, and I saw a city bus pull up and open it's doors. Nadine headed to the front entrance as people who were getting off exited through the back door. Now was my chance. I darted to the back door and slipped in past an elderly woman climbing off. Quickly finding an empty seat in the back, I spotted Nadine's hair at the very front. The doors closed with a hiss and we sped off down the city streets, the night life rushing past the windows. My fears grew slightly as we drove on, but my suspicion of Nadine grew even more, allowing me to remain at least part way calm.

Two stops later, Nadine was still on the bus and I was becoming more curious by the second. What was she doing that she had to go so far into town? Was she stocking up on supplies for her next plan of sabotage? Or perhaps she was meeting an accomplice to formulate the next step in the scheme. I became almost excited, just dying to get proof so that I could rub it in Gerard's face. Finally, at the third stop Nadine moved to get up. Unfortunately, that meant she was coming directly towards me. Thinking quickly, I grabbed the newspaper the man in front of me was reading and held it up in front of my face. "Hey!" he said angrily. Nadine slipped off of the bus, and I tossed the paper back to him.

"Thanks for letting me borrow that." I followed Nadine for another five minutes or so before she turned into what appeared to be a small, latenight diner. It looked pretty dingy, but I followed her in and sat down at a booth to keep an eye on her, peering over the top of a menu. She was just sitting there, looking impatient. She retouched her lipgloss up several times, but that was about it. Dissappointment was starting to set in. Had she really just come all the way down here simply to eat some greasy diner food at 11:00 p.m.? I was deciding whether or not to give up and navigate back to the hotel, when somebody else entered the diner. It was Cara Bentley, Miss California. She was a tall, painfully thin girl with very high cheekbones and beachy blonde hair, and of course she was practically the tannest person alive. I'd seen her around a few times before, but never with Nadine, which was somewhat surprising because Cara was just about as bitchy as Nadine was.

Cara walked right over to Nadine's booth, though, and slid into the seat across from her. Nadine smiled and instantly launched into conversation. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but they leaned very close together and talked for awhile. Then Nadine pulled something out of her purse and slid it across the table to Cara, who read it and grinned with a mischevious look. I smiled in satisfaction. Caught in the act. They were obviously working together in this scheme and planning their next move. As far as I was concerned, this was all the evidence we would ever need. I pulled out my phone to take a picture so that the others would believe me, but a form was suddenly blocking my lens. It was a grouchy, overworked-looking waitress. "What do you want?" she snapped, tapping her foot and poising her pen to take my order.

"Umm...nothing. I'm good." The waitress huffed angrily and crossed her arms.

"Look, you either have to order something, or get out. You can't just sit here all night." I rummaged around in my pockets, hoping to find some spare change, but had no luck.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any money." I said in a sweet voice, hoping she would take pity on me. All she did, though, was roll her eyes and point a bony finger at the door.

"Out." she said firmly. "And don't come back." I sighed and got up to leave. Oh well...hopefully Gerard would have forgotten slightly about Nadine's hotness and be more willing to believe me. I looked at my phone. It was 11:30. Time to go back to the hotel. I trecked back to the bus stop, but something on the sign caught my eye.

**Bus service ends at 11:30 p.m. **

"Oh no!" I cried. Now how was I supposed to get back to the hotel? I looked around. There didn't really seem to be anybody on the streets, but the neighborhood didn't look very friendly. There was trash everywhere, half the street lights were burned out, and every inch of available surface seemed to be spray painted with some form of gang symbol or obscenity. I gulped. "Oh God..." I muttered anxiously to myself. "I'm gonna get raped. I know it, I just know it." I wrapped my arms around myself and started walking. Every store appeared to be closed and locked up. Another homeless man with a shopping cart and a creepy grin waved at me from across the street. I took off at a run. I saw a glowing green light in the distance. It turned out to be an extremely ghetto 7/11 gas station. Still, it looked like the place I was least likely to get shot at the moment. I walked over and sat on the curb of the sidewalk leading up to the entrance. A sign on the door said: **Due to sanitary reasons, we are no longer accepting any money out of undergarments. **I sighed heavily.

Then I remembered the wonderful invention I clutched in my hand. My cell phone! "Oh why didn't I think of you five minutes ago, you beautiful creature?" I said lovingly to my phone, opening it up and flicking through my contacts. I wondered who to call. Gerard was the only one other than Ray who could drive. I stared at his name on the list. He would be absolutely furious with me, but it didn't look like I had any other options. I pressed the 'Call' button and waited for him to pick up. After a few rings, his voice crackled over the line.

"Blair?" he asked, sounding confused. "Umm...you know you can just walk the few feet down to our room if you want to talk to me." There was a long pause, then something must have clicked for him. "Wait...you **ARE** in your room, aren't you?" I bit my lip.

"Yeah, about that..."

"Blair! You promised me." he said, sounding irritated.

"I did no such thing." I said, which was true. I really hadn't agreed to anything he'd demanded of me. I heard him taking a few deep breaths. "Are you mad at me?" I asked, feeling a little guilty. He had seemed genuinely concerned for my well being.

"To be honest, yeah, a little bit. But I can kill you later. Where are you?" I looked around.

"Umm, I'm not sure exactly. I'm downtown somewhere in like...the ghettos or something."

"You're **WHERE**?" he asked incredulously. "Jesus Christ, what the hell are you doing?" I didn't know what to say, but I figured that telling him I was following Nadine would only make him angrier.

"I'll tell you about it later, but I need you to come pick me up. I feel like I'm going to get mugged." I inched away from the group of rowdy men noisily leaving the 7/11. One of them smiled at me.

"Hey, sweet thing." he said, moving forward. I held the phone away from my mouth and stood up.

"Come any closer, and I'll rip your balls off and shove them down your throat!" I yelled wildly, pressing up against the wall behind me. The man looked at me with a disturbed expression and then hurried off to rejoin his friends. I breathed a sigh of relief and put the phone back to my ear.

"Blair, where are you?" Gerard said, sounding extremely worried. He seemed to have heard my shouts.

"I don't know!" I cried, really starting to freak out. "I'm on some random street corner in the middle of God knows where outside of a fucking 7/11 across from what I'm pretty sure is a crack house!" My breathing was erratic.

"Alright, alright. Calm down." Gerard said soothingly. "Just breathe. Did you say you were outside of a 7/11?" I confirmed his question in a shaky voice. "Okay, I think I know where you are. Me and Mikey stopped there the other day to get gas. I'm gonna come and get you. Just stay where you are and go inside the gas station, okay?" I peered into the store through the glass front doors. The man behind the register was short and skinny, with long, scraggly brown hair and a prickly beard.

"Gerard, I don't wanna go in there." I hissed, backing away to sit down on the curb again.

"Why not?"

"Because the cashier looks like fucking Charles Manson. Like, legitly, I think it **MIGHT** be him."

"Okay, okay. Just stay outside then. I'm getting in the car right now. Stay on the phone with me, and I'll be there in a few minutes." I heard him turning on the car, and he put on one of the Muse CDs I'd brought along to calm me down. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore anything creepy and/or ghetto that happened around me. The wait seemed forever. Every now and then Gerard would assure me that he was almost there, but he seemed to say it every five minutes, and he never showed up. I became convinced that he was driving to the wrong ghetto 7/11, and tried to come to terms with the fact that I was going to have to either a) become a prostitute or b) join a street gang in order to survive.

Gerard had just recently told me he was pretty sure he was almost there, when I saw a creepy van pulling into the parking lot. It was white and dirty. "Gerard." I said tentatively into the phone.

"Yeah?"

"Hurry up and get here. There's a creepy rapist van coming straight at me." I stood up and began to walk down towards the sidewalk to make a run for it. The van started to follow me. I quickened my pace.

"Blair-" Gerard started to say.

"It is definitely a rapist! He is coming for me!"

"Blair-" he tried again.

"There's a sign in his window that says 'Free Candy'! I'm gonna die, Gerard! Tell my mom and Maggie, and everyone that I love them!" I was bolting down the sidewalk now, practically shrieking into the phone.

"It's me, you idiot." Gerard finally said flatly. I paused where I was and turned around. Sure enough, a hand was waving to me from the van and Gerard poked his head out of the window.

"Oh...Well, I'll be there in a sec." I shut my phone. I'd completely forgotten that the rental car was so creepy, and had been waiting for Gerard's usual silver one. I climbed embarassedly into the passenger seat and couldn't meet his eye. He was laughing hysterically.

"I thought you were mad at me." I said grumpily, folding my arms across my chest.

"Yes, but the fact that you thought I was a pedophile coming after you sort of makes us even." he said, grinning at me. I pretended to be annoyed with him, but was secretly thankful that he wasn't angry any more. "No more late night runs to the local run down 7/11, though."

I nodded fervently. Trust me. I had no plans to go back there any time soon.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Well there you have it, guys. Brand spankin' new chapter. :D I made it long just for you. Just bought tickets to see The Used in June. Woot woot! Can't wait. I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and I hope your week is almost as good ('cause come on...nothing beats the weekend).

A review would be nice, if you don't mind. Thanks much!


	6. I Am On Fire! Literally

**A/N: **Hey guys, sorry about the delay on this chapter. It's summer time and lately all I've felt like doing is enjoying my time off from school by hanging around outside, catching up on some reading, and baking all sorts of delicious things. Not to mention I just started driver's ed, so I've been studying up for my temps test and all the other tests for the class. Anyways...long story short, I've been putting off working on a new chapter, and now I guess I'll get on with writing the damn thing. :D

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: I Am On Fire! Literally<strong>

**Blair's POV **

You have no idea how difficult it is to keep a secret of the magnitude that I was. In actuality, I was keeping several large secrets that were threatening to unravel any day now. For one, the whole life I was livng right now was a complete and downright lie. It was a struggle just to make conversation with people because they were talking about aspects of the pageant half the time, which meant I didn't know what the hell they were talking about for the majority of our discussions.

And then there was the slightly smaller, but seemingly harder to keep secret that I was hiding from the very people I was supposed to be working with in this scheme. I hadn't told anyone about what I'd seen Nadine doing in the diner. No one knew that I'd followed her and caught her in that very incriminating situation. I knew that if I shared my insight, they would just shoot me down. Gerard had already fallen under her spell, and the other's were convinced that my supposed "jealousy" was clouding my judgement. Therefore, I kept my mouth shut. But every time Nadine entered the room, I had the sudden urge to whip out a megaphone and announce to everybody that she was behind all of the threats to the contestants. At times, I found myself thankful that I didn't carry a megaphone in my back pocket, or else I seriously would have done so.

Somehow, though, I had managed to keep my composure (from a combination of fatigue and lack of a megaphone device, I'm sure). I now sat mulling my thoughts over at the breakfast table in the banquet room. Babs was to my left and Crystal to my right. A number of other girls were seated around the table, but I only vaguely recognized them. Last night's downtown endeavor showed itself in the form of black circles under my tired eyes. I sniffled a little bit, pressing my mug of orange juice to my lips and sipping slowly. "Are you okay?" Babs asked me, taking in my somber demeanor. The rest of the table turned to look at me.

"Yeah, you look kinda tired, girl." Crystal said, peering into my eyes like a doctor. I waved them off.

"It's nothing, you guys. I just couldn't sleep last night, is all. You know...with all the commotion and stuff." By commotion, I meant the fact that I'd stalked Nadine until all hours of the night, but the girls interpreted it as the threatening messages they'd all had slippped under their doors.

"Oh, I know what you mean." an Asian girl said from across the table. I think her name was Mimi. "I couldn't sleep either. I just kept thinking about all those notes. They were super freaky." She shuddered slightly and shook her head as though to shake off the anxious feelings that seemed to be invading everybody this morning. It was evident in the slow way we were all eating, and the way we glanced over our shoulders every so often, checking for any signs of danger. The pageant organizers were sitting at their table up front, conversing in hushed tones with serious expressions. Crystal, however, had a different outlook on the matter.

"Oh come on, you guys!" she said emphatically. "You know this whole thing is just some bitchy scheme cooked up by some desperate skank who's jealous of all of us." She was smiling now. "If you ask me, this chick is making it way too difficult for herself. If I really wanted to win so bad, I'd just sleep with the judge. Just sayin'." We all laughed, lightning up a bit. Crystal continued on with her rant. "Now, if I find out who's behind all this, well I just hope her skinny ass can **RUN**."

And so went the rest of breakfast. I left the banquet hall in considerably higher spirits, chatting animatedly with Babs despite my exhaustion. "So, what's on the agenda today?" I asked as we boarded the elevator. Babs pulled a neatly folded schedule out of her back pocket.

"Oh, the luau's tonight!" I just stared at her blankly. "You know, the luau on Orange Beach? They've been reminding us about it for months in the pageant news letters?" I quickly caught on that, as a contestant, I was supposed to have been aware of this event.

"Of course! I thought you said...um... that the 'bowwow' was tonight, and I was like 'what?'." I laughed nervously. Babs looked at me with a humorously skeptical face.

"Bowwow? I think you need your hearing checked, hon." We climbed off on our floor, ready to go back to the rooms and get ready for the day. Neither one of us was dressed or wearing any makeup. My blonde hair looked like a tornado had blown through it overnight. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maggie peaking out from her shared hotel room. I gave her a look that said "What now?". She simply motioned for me to come over.

"Oh shit..." I said theatrically to Babs. "I totally forgot my...thing down at the breakfast table. I'm gonna run down and get it."

"Okay...well, I'm gonna get dressed and head out to do some errands and whatnot. If I don't see you before I leave, I'll talk to you at the luau tonight. My brother's gonna be there, by the way." She winked playfully at me. I felt my heart do a little skip. Her brother was going to be there? Aiden's olive skinned face and dirty blonde hair popped into my head. I tried to hide my smile.

"I'll be there." I assured her, walking towards the elevator to act like I was about to go back downstairs. I waited for Babs to dissappear into our room before dashing off to meet Maggie, who was waiting impatiently in the doorway. "What do you need?" I asked her, slightly exasperated.

"Blair, you and me need to have a little chat." she said sternly. I just looked at her incredulously. She opened the door wider so that I could step in. The room was void of any of the guys. It was just me and her. When the door closed with a snap, she turned to face me, arms crossed. "Where were you last night, Blair Hunter?" My eyes widened. How did Maggie...? "Gerard told me you called him at like...11 p.m. from some gas station in the ghettos. What were you up to?" I swallowed nervously.

"I just got bored in my hotel room, so I decided to take a little walk. Pass some time." Maggie raised a single eyebrow in a way that only she could master.

"Right...cause when people go for walks, they always take a stroll in the local slum." Another minute under her intense gaze, and I cracked. Completely. What can I say? Maggie Wheeler is a force like no other. I mean...assess the situation I'm putting myself in for her sake. Yeah...it's bad. And so, the whole tale about Nadine came tumbling out of my mouth like water out of an upturned glass. When the whole thing was over, Maggie just stared off into a space somewhere above my head, pondering what I'd revealed. I waited with baited breath for her to start telling me I was dumb for thinking Nadine had anything to do with the pageant threats.

"Interesting..." was all she said, sitting down on the bed and pressing her lips together. "Well...it's certainly something we'll have to keep an eye on.

"An eye on?" I practically shouted. "Can't we just march on over to her room right now and drag her to a closet somewhere and demand answers?" I couldn't believe that she still had doubts about Nadine. It was infuriating. "I mean, we've done it before, haven't we?" Indeed we had. Back at St. James, me and the guys had launched a complicated operation to kidnap and interrogate a student. It really just involved some walkie talkies and duct tape, but I liked to think of it as sophisticated. You know...for a couple of teenagers.

"Blair." Maggie said pointedly, looking at me with knowing eyes. "You and I both know that this suspicion has more to do with jelousy about a certain something than it does with actual evidence." I blushed furiously.

"It does not!" I cried defensively, whipping away so that I was no longer facing my best friend. I wrung my hands together, fuming.

"Blair, you know it's okay to like-"

"I don't want to talk about it." I cut her off swiftly. "Just forget I said anything about Nadine. We have other things to worry about." Maggie studied me carefully for a moment and then, to my tremendous relief, changed the subject.

"So what's this I hear about a luau?" She had obviously been listening in through the bug I had planted in my ear. Tonight's tropical plans came rushing back to me.

"I have absolutely no idea." I confessed. "Babs just mentioned it to me a few minutes ago. Apparently, they've been reminding the contestants about it for months now in some newsletter. Obviously I didn't get the memo."

"Alright, then." Maggie said, pulling me up from the bed. "It's time to rally our forces. Let's get our luau on!" She looked excited. I had a sudden image in Gerard and Frank in hula skirts and coconut bikinis. Oddly, this thought was less disturbing than I expected, which made it even weirder. I grabbed Maggie's arm.

"I think we might need to call in the expert on this one, Mag." She just looked at me. "Imagine the guys if they tried to help me get ready for a luau." I saw the fruit hats and grass skirts dancing behind her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm calling Ashley." was her only response as she whipped out her cell phone.

* * *

><p><strong>'BANG! BANG! BANG!' <strong>

"Whoa, Ray, watch the cop car on your left!" I jerked wildly forward from where I was seated on the bed, leaning up against the headboard, to point frantically at the animated cop car tailing Ray's own stolen one. Gun fire sounds were echoing from the television speakers.

"Blair, stop moving your feet!" Ashley cried. "You're gonna make me spill this stuff." She was in the middle of painting my toenails light pink, and I wasn't exactly making it easy for her. Ray was engaged in an intense game of Grand Theft Auto IV and was currently being persued by several cop cars for whatever reason. He launched a Molotov cocktail back at the police car behind him and I laughed as it exploded, causing the car to spin out. Ashley gave me a stern look.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I'll hold still now." I readjusted myself against the headboard and made a show of remaining perfectly immobile. A second later though, I had jumped forward in the excitement of Ray's having just hijacked a helicopter. "Yeah, go!" I said, fist-pumping. Ashley let out a huge sigh.

"You are just ridiculous." She made to screw the cap back on the nail polish, and I grabbed her hand, showing her my best apologetic face.

"No, I'm sorry, Ashley. I'll be still this time, I promise."

"Yeah, here. I'm turning off the game anyways." Ray quickly saved his progress and then clicked the power button on the game system Mikey had been genius enough to pack in his suitcase. With the distraction of violent video games gone, Ashley managed to complete my toenails.

"Now you just have to let them dry." she said, looking pleased with her work. She then passed me the remote. "Do you think you can stay still while they dry if you watch tv, or will you start yelling at ShamWow commercials?" I narrowed my eyes at her in fake annoyance, snatching the remote from her outstretched hand. She just chuckled. "I'm going out to my car to find some shoes to go with your dress. I'll be back in a little bit." Not a minute after she had left the room, the door was bursting open again. Gerard, Frankie, and Bob came trickling in, laughing. Frankie immediately caught sight of me on the bed.

"What's shakin', tofu bacon?" he said, grinning.

"I've been confined to bedrest while my toenail polish dries." I pointed at my feet. Ray looked up from where he was pouring himself a soda from the minifridge.

"Yeah, it took her like an hour to get them painted 'cause she kept squirming around." I ignored this comment pointedly and proceeded to turn on the television. Some news cast came on, and I didn't know any of the channels around here, so I settled for it.

"Ugh, I hate the news." Gerard groaned.

"Why?" I asked him. Admittedly, I hadn't watched the news in years. It just wasn't something that a kid my age exactly does in their spare time.

"Because everything on it is obscenely depressing."

"Oh, it's not **THAT** bad." I turned up the volume so that we could actually hear what the newscasters were saying. A man with a tie so tight around his neck it looked to be partially suffocating him came onto the screen.

"Thanks, Jackie." he said, grinning falsely. "And in other news, a semi truck crashed into a school bus carrying 40 children from the orphanage coming back from a field trip. All of them were killed, along with a band of stray dogs and a woman in a wheelchair crossing the street." We all gaped openly at the tv screen.

"Okay, let's watch some cartoons." I said, hurriedly changing the channel. We lounged leisurely on the beds, watching Spongebob, until Ashley returned with Maggie and Mikey in tow. Ashley was carrying a cardboard box full of shoes, and the other two had their arms weighted down with what looked to be the entire contents of a vending machine. "Where have you two been?" I asked, my eyes widening as they dumped their spoils onto the end of the bed.

"A vending machine broke on the eighth floor." Mikey said proudly. "We're running low on food, and the machine operated without money, so we just kept on typing in numbers and it just kept on spitting out food."

"It was pretty awesome." Maggie agreed, sifting through the food before locating a bag of peanut M&M's for herself. I rolled my eyes but didn't have time to inquire any further into the matter because Ashley was now pulling me to my feet and shoving me into the bathroom.

"Here, try this on." She tossed a dress at me and it landed on my head. "And pick which shoes you like best." I'd gotten so used to being crammed into different outfits over the last few days that I didn't even bother to look at what Ashley wanted me to wear. I just slipped it on over my head. It turned out to be a little cream colored dress with light pink flowers. I studied the shoe selection, and decided on the little black, beaded flip flops. They were the only ones in the bunch that were flats. I really didn't feel like wobbling around all night in heels, trying not to kill people by falling on them.

"Kay kay, all done." I announced, exiting the bathroom. Ashley beamed at me.

"It's perfect." she said.

"Except for one little thing." Gerard came towards me with an analytical expression. I became instantly nervous. "Hand me that hair band." Ashley took off the one around her wrist and tossed it to him. He pushed me down to sit in a nearby chair and then began to pull my hair back. My scalp felt like it was on fire where he ran his fingers against it and the back of my neck tingled nonstop. I tried to hold still and not blush. Finally, I felt him tying the ponytail, and then he was in front of me, fooling with two strands of hair he had left down to frame my face. "Voila. All that's missing are some earrings."

"Gerard...I'm so glad you've finally decided to come out of the closet." Bob said in a jokingly serious voice, patting Gerard on the shoulder. Gerard smacked him upside the head.

"Shut up, man. You're just jealous of these metrosexual skills." he said, striking a pose.

"Oh, dear lord." was all I had to say on the matter.

* * *

><p>"Ladies! Ladies, let's start boarding the bus! Everybody this way! Single file line, please!" An exhausted-looking chaperone was beginning to herd the contestants towards the waiting bus. We had been milling around in the hotel lobby for awhile and we were all getting restless. Not to mention hungry. I was reclining on one of the many sofas, sprawled across it lazily and in the least lady-like way possible. I'd received several looks of contempt from some of the snootier girls and the hotel staff members that passed by. I was too worn out to care.<p>

"Blair, you coming?" Babs, Crystal, Mimi, and a girl named Tiffany Tilford from Arizona were waiting for me by the door. I dragged my lazy carcass out of my comfy position and shuffled over to join them. As I was sitting down in the seat next to Babs, a tiny crackle sounded in my ear, followed by muffled voices that didn't match with the din on the bus. For a moment, I was worried I had suddenly developed schizophrenia, but then I remembered my bug. Sure enough, Gerard's voice boomed in my ear a second later.

"Alright, Maggie is insisting that I give you a rundown of tonight's mission." I winced at the loudness of his voice. Wasn't there a way to turn the volume down on this thing? I couldn't say anything, though. Babs was a mere few inches away from me. "She's too lazy to do it herself, though she seems to be finding time to wrestle Mikey for the remote. Ooh! And she's got him in a headlock." I couldn't help but laugh. You would too if you had the picture in your head that I did. "Anyways..." Gerard went on, "I'm just supposed to let you know that you're expected to be snooping around tonight, looking for anything suspicious, and asking questions. Sounds simple enough."

I nodded, though to no effect since he couldn't see me. "You'll be plenty safe, though. I'm dropping by in a bit to keep an eye out, and I think Mikey'll come with me if he's not unconcious by the time Maggie's through with him. Oh...and we've sent in a little extra back up. Just in case. See you soon!" With that, he was gone, leaving me to puzzle over just what exactly he meant by "extra back up". My question was answered almost immediately.

"Alright, ladies." I heard a familiar voice crackle. I thought it was my bug again, but this time, the voice sounded closer somehow. I looked around in confusion. "I'm Raymond, and I'll be your bus driver tonight." My eyes snapped to the front of the bus. Ray Toro, with his muscular torso crammed into a bus driver's uniform, and a stereotypical hat perched on his white-boy afro, was sitting in the driver's seat, grinning back at me in the rearview mirror. I oggled at this sight with shock. Was he even allowed to drive a bus? I was fairly sure you had to have some sort of special license. Ray Toro, however, didn't seem to care. Within minutes, we were out of the hotel parking lot and cruising down the road.

"The bus driver looks **REALLY** young, doesn't he?" said Mimi, who was in the seat in front of me and Babs.

"Yeah, he does." I said, shaking my head. Ray looked up in the rearview mirror at me again and winked. I stuck my tongue out. Well...I guess you know your friends truly care about your safety when they're willing to hijack a bus for you and drive it illegally. Actually, knowing my friends, Ray probably just sincerely wanted to hijack a bus. All that Grand Theft Auto was going to his head. Somehow, we made it to Orange Beach with the bus fully intact, no injuries sustained except for maybe a few cases of whiplash from Ray's chaotic turns and stops.

"Okay, everybody off the bus! We're running a little late, and we've got to get you girls up on stage in ten minutes. Hurry now!" The chaperone from before looked flustered and was trying to get us moving. I slipped into the line of girls exiting the bus right behind Mimi.

"Thank you for riding the Raymond Express." Ray crooned over the loudspeaker, wiggling his eyebrows. Once off the bus, I took in the gorgeous scenery around me. Orange Beach stretched on endlessly in powdery white sand and crystalline blue water sloshing up onto the shore and then back out to sea again. It was absolutely breathtaking. And then there was the luau itself. A large tiki hut seemed to have been built, but the roof had been shortened up so that it was only an eave over a freshly constructed stage rising out of the sand. A white banner hanging across the back of the hut over the stage read '**Annual America's Junior Miss Orange Beach Luau**'. Tropically colored paper lanterns were strung up all around along with tiki torches driven into the warm sand.

Alot of people were already here. Families, tourists, and creepers were wandering around, enjoying the nice weather and the free punch being served. I glimpsed some caterers preparing a gigantic table of food and my stomach growled. Unfortunately, eating did not seem to be a priority for us at the moment. We were instead being almost violently shoved to a location behind the hut-stage by several volunteers. I stood on tiptoe to see a few feet ahead and saw two men passing out what looked like short, fat sticks. "What's going on?" I said under my breath to Babs.

"Oh, those are the torches." she said simply. I felt my eyes widen, but tried to act like this was normal.

"Right...the torches." I gathered that I was also expected to know about this, but I felt a nervous knot forming in my stomach. What were we going to do with torches? Were we going to have to do some sort of elaborate fiery baton twirling thingy? Let's see...me, fire, wooden stage...This is not a good mix. Before I could do anything, though, I had reached one of the men passing out the torches and one of them was pressed into my hands.

"Let's get in line, ladies! Hurry up now!" I suddenly found myself wedged between two contestants I didn't recognize. At least they didn't glare at me with disgust. They simply moved over to make room for me. I glanced back down the line. Babs was several contestants away. She caught my gaze and gave an encouraging wave. I gulped. A man was coming down the line now, lighting the torches. When he lit mine, I jumped back slightly as a wave of heat blasted my face.

"Umm...is this safe?" I asked him nervously. He waved me off, lighting the next girl's torch.

"Oh, you'll be perfectly safe." he assured me before moving on.

"Yeah, or perfectly barbecued." I muttered to myself, holding the flaming torch away from my body with extreme caution. Then the line began to move forward. It looked like we were filing onto the stage from a short staircase at the back of the hut that led onto it. I breathed deeply in and out, willing myself not to trip and fall on the stairs as I climbed them. Then I emerged onto the stage in front of a large crowd of gathered people clapping wildly. Cameras flashed in all directions, nearly blinding me. I remembered Ashley's advice to me: when in doubt, smile. And so I did. I smiled so widely it hurt my cheeks.

"Please give a warm welcome to this year's beautiful contestants competing in the America's Junior Miss Pageant." an overly-enthusiastic announcer yelled into the mic. Now all 49 of us (since Miss Texas had dropped out after the food poisoning incident) stood lined up on the stage, slightly cramped from lack of space and holding highly dangerous burning chunks of wood. Yippe. I was beginning to sweat from a combination of the warm weather and the heat my torch was generating. My palms were all sticky and my hairline was getting damp. The audience gave us a round of rousing applause, and I suddenly caught sight of Gerard and Mikey in the audience. They waved and I nodded in their direction, not trusting myself to do anything but stand still on account of the torch.

"And now these lovely ladies will carry on the tradition of lighting the luau bonfire. Ladies?" The announcer man stepped off to the side of the stage and gestured to a huge pile of wood out in the sand. One by one, the girls stepped off the stage and proceeded to toss their torches into the pile. By the time I followed suit, it was already starting to burn at the base and was smoking heavily. When all 49 contestants had gone through, a hearty blaze was roaring. "Let the luau begin!" the announcer exclaimed, and tropically themed music began to play in the background. It was just starting to get dark, so several men were making the rounds to light the tiki torches and turn on the lightbulbs in the paper lanterns. People were beginning to migrate towards the food table. The smell of freshly cooked seafood wafted through the air, mixing with the light ocean breeze.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Of all the things I'd done for the pageant so far, this was by far my favorite. I looked around, not entirely sure where to begin. From the quick briefing one of the chaperones had given us on the bus ride here, we were just supposed to walk around and mingle with the guests. If I remembered correctly, we were going to help organize a limbo and some other beach games later on. I turned to Babs, who had wandered over to my side. "I think I might just stick around with you tonight. I'm not really sure what to do." I told her, laughing. She didn't respond for a moment. "Is...that okay?" I asked, suddenly unsure.

"Oh...yeah! I just thought you might want to spend a little time with someone else tonight." She grinned slyly. My first thought was Gerard and Mikey, but then I realized that she wouldn't know they were here. But then who was she talking about?

"Hey guys." came a voice from behind us. Swiveling my head around, I was greeted with the sight of Aiden walking towards us. His dark blue eyes shone brightly in the dimming light and his olive skin reflected the soft orange light from the torches. He grinned at both of us, but I couldn't help noticing the way his eyes kept flickering back to me. It made my face heat up something fierce.

"Blair here was just telling me that she was looking for someone to hang around with since she's never been to a luau before." Babs piped up, putting a slender arm around my shoulders. "Do you think you could show her around, Aiden? I've got some other...stuff I need to take care of." I saw her wink at her brother. He turned to me and smiled.

"Really? I would've thought you'd been to this beach hundred times since you live here."

"I...well I've-I've never been to Orange Beach before. I'm not really a beach person." I stammered nervously. He laughed at me.

"Relax, I'm just kidding ya." He stuck out his arm for me to take. "It would be my honor to show you around." I was about to reach out and take his arm, my heart hammering fast, when I remembered something that made me hesitate. Gerard and Mikey. They would probably want me to come find them soon to let them know how things were going. Not to mention I was supposed to be snooping around tonight. I doubted that Aiden, who wasn't even **IN** the pageant, would have any useful information for me.

"Um..." I said slowly, glancing around for signs of either of my co-conspiritors. Gerard's raven black hair caught my attention and my eyes lit up. Then I saw who he was standing with. Nadine was directly in front of him, a punch cup in one hand, the other flipping her long, wavy rich brown hair. She smiled coyly up at Gerard and I saw him laugh at something she said. A fury boiled in me, but I bit my tongue and irately grabbed Aiden's arm. "Yeah, sure, let's go." I just wanted to get as far away from Gerard and his little...ugh! Just as far away from him as possible at the moment. It took me a minute to realize that I was basically dragging Aiden behind me. I slowed to a stop and released him, embarrassed.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, bending slightly to look me in the eye since I was hanging my head. I nodded.

"Yes. I'm fine. Sorry about that, I'm just a little...overwhelmed right now." I tried to breathe deeply, but I felt like somebody had recently punched me in the gut. I could even feel the phantom of a dull ache in the pit of my stomach. I decided that I just must be ravenously hungry.

"Hey, it's fine." Aiden said gently, grabbing my hand and giving it a squeeze. He gave me an encouraging smile, which I did my best to return. "C'mon, let's go grab something to eat before it's all picked over by the tourists." I was grateful for this suggestion and followed him eagerly to the food table. Once our plates were filled with a wide variety of seafood and classic beach barbeque staples, we found ourselves a pair of seats by the bonfire. We chatted mostly about little formalities: the weather, how the pageant was going so far, I asked him how he liked Alabama. It was a little awkward at first, but I soon found myself getting more comfortable, laughing at Aiden's jokes and showing my more sarcastic side.

I saw Gerard pass by a couple of times (Nadine thankfully not with him), but he didn't seem to notice me. I just concentrated harder on what Aiden was saying whenever I saw him. When I had finished eating, I set my paper plate down at my feet and looked up at the sky. I gasped. "What?" Aiden asked, looking startled.

"The stars..." I whispered in awe, pointing up. He followed my gaze. Suddenly, he was laughing and it was my turn to ask "What?"

"It's nothing." He shook his head. "Just...you live here, but you act like everything you see is brand new. Like you've never seen it before." I twisted my hands together nervously.

"I don't get out much, I guess." I looked down and my knees, knowing my excuse was lame. Aiden's olive-skinned hand was soon covering mine, though. I looked up at him.

"That's what I like about you, though. Every day is different. If everybody looked at the world the way you do...the world would be a much more interesting place." I blushed so deeply at his words that I was sure my face looked like a tomato. I suddenly became extremely thankful for the darkness. There was a long pause where neither me nor Aiden said a word, and then he was pulling me up to my feet by my elbow. "C'mon...I was here earlier to help set up and I think I found the perfect place to get a better view of these stars."

He was leading me in the direction of a long pier in the distance that extended quite a ways into the water when my ear bug began to fizz and Gerard started talking again. "Hey, Blair, where are you? I haven't seen you in quite a while. Just making sure you're doing alright."

"Just leave me alone." I muttered bitterly.

"What was that?" Aiden asked.

"Nothing." I pretended to scratch my ear, but then located the tiny ON/OFF switch Maggie had shown me on the bug when she was explaining how it worked. The bug started to crackle again but I switched it of before anything else could be communicated. "Now what were you saying about a good place to watch the stars?" Aiden chuckled.

"It's right out here at the end of the pier. You feel like you're in the middle of the ocean. It's pretty awesome." We walked along the pier in perfect silence, the sound of the waves echoing around us. I could hear the faint noise of the luau somewhere far behind us. When we reached the end of the pier, Aiden told me to hop up on the railing so that my legs were swinging over the edge above the water. "It's okay, I won't let you fall in." he said, smiling as he held my hand to steady me when I climbed up. Soon he was sitting right next to me, pointing up at the sky. When I looked up, it felt like I had entered into another world.

The sky was deep purple, like the color of an eggplant, and speckled with a thousand flecks of gleaming diamond light. Most of the stars glimmered in white, but there were several that seemed to be tinged blue and even orange. I felt myself gaping unabashedly at the sight. The roar of the waves only intensified the raw beauty of the moment. "So what do you think?" Aiden asked me a few minutes later.

"I think it's beautiful..." I said in a hushed voice, not able to peel my eyes away from the sky.

"I think it is too." Something in his tone of voice made me turn to look at him and I found that he was looking not at the sky, but at me. I blushed again and bit my lip but didn't look away. He didn't either, and very slowly, he began to lean in towards me, his eyelids fluttering closed. My heart raced. My body temperature rocketed up several degrees. His lips were so close! I started to let my eyelids slide down as well. Then something strange happened.

Behind my closed eyes, I saw a flash of pale white, a flicker of raven black, and a quick sliver of hazel. Startled, my eyes shot open and I tumbled backwards off of the railing, landing with a painful **'thunk' **on my back onto the boardwalk. I tried to collect my racing thoughts, and to rub some of the pain out of my spine. Aiden looked down at me with wide eyes from where he was still perched on the rail.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah...I'm fine." I said, slightly breathless. "Just...I just lost my balance, I guess." If I had been blushing before, it was nothing compared to how my face burned now. How embarassing! I wished I could crawl under a rock somewhere, but the only thing around me was the expanse of pier. I was seriously considering jumping into the ocean and swimming away when I heard fast-paced thumping footsteps coming from down the pier and getting closer every second. It sounded like whoever it was was running at full speed. I sat up fully and turned my head to see a shadowy figure rushing directly at us. My first thoughts were '_rapist' , 'serial killer', _and _'mugger'_ until they stepped into the light cast on the pier by the street lamps to my left and right.

It was Ray. A thin sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead, and his eyes were wild. I stood up, wondering what on earth could be making him appear so frenzied. "You guys...have to come...quick!" he panted, waving at me to follow him. I looked back at Aiden, who looked extremely confused. "Come on! Hurry!" Ray shouted, already taking off back down the pier. I watched him retreating, wondering what was going on.

"Wasn't that the bus driver?" Aiden asked. I squinted my eyes and looked back on the shore. Then I gasped. Something was definitely wrong. What had so recently been the small, contained blaze of the bonfire now appeared to have engulfed the entire site. I could vaguely make out tiny people fleeing from the luau, and I even heard a distant scream.

"Oh my God, it's on fire!" I yelled. I heard Aiden hopping off the railing, but I was already running down the pier.

"Hey, Blair! Wait!" he yelled after me. But I wasn't waiting for anything.

My feet were flying. What if people were hurt? My heart rate picked up again. I heard sirens wailing a ways off. Fire fighters were on the way. This only reassured me slightly, though. Images of Babs and the other girls trapped under burning debris popped into my head as my feet hit the sand. Or...gulp...Gerard and Mikey. I picked up the pace. This was a difficult feat since the sand made it so much harder to run, but I was soon close enough to the fire to feel its heat. From the looks of things, the stage had somehow caught fire and now the whole thing was up in flames. The smoke hit me like a brick wall and singed my lungs. It made my eyes water and my tongue dry up, but I came closer despite being uncomfortable.

It didn't appear that anybody was left in the site. They all seemed to have managed to get away. I tried to breathe a sigh of relief, but the smoke in my lungs only allowed me to choke out a hacking cough that nearly had me doubled over on the ground. And then I heard it. A piercing shriek. It was too close to be out of the danger of the fire. I looked up. Everything around me was ablaze. The tiki torches and paper lanterns, strung to the stage, were all on fire, and several chairs had caught as well. A few palm trees close to the torches glowed bright orange as they burned, sending thick black smoke up to the sky. It was a terrifying sight. There was the scream again. Whoever it was sounded to be in pain. "Help!" I heard someone cry. Their voice was so hoarse I couldn't distinguish whether it was male or female. "Please help me!"

"Hang on, I'm coming!" I shouted back as best I could, hoping they would be able to hear me. I sucked in a deep breath and then held it in. Staying low to the ground, I entered cautiously into this fiery world. The heat was unbelievable. It was like walking into an oven in Hell. My dress was alread sticking to my back. I spun around in all directions, looking for the screamer, but all the smoke and heat haze was making it nearly impossible to see. Behind me, I heard a tremendous cracking noise and turned just in time to see the stage beginning to collapse. The fire had obviously burned through its support beams. I watched in horror as it started to crumble. Another scream whipped through the night air as it fell.

It sounded like it was coming from somewhere near the stage. I braced myself and began to advance quickly but cautiously, not wanting it to collapse fully. I made my way carefully around it, squinting to see if I could make out any figures amidst the wood. At first, the only sound I could hear was the crackling and popping noise of the burning wood, but then I could make out a weak whimper. Alert, I searched desperately and finally caught sight of a shifting pile of wood that didn't quite look to be on fire yet.

Forgetting all caution, I dashed towards it. A dark face with wide, teary eyes greeted me. Crystal was trapped in the staircase behind the stage, a pile of wood blocking either exit. The one behind her was burning and spreading quickly. When she saw me, she launched herself forward and jammed her arms through a gap in the collapsed wood to grasp my hands. "Please, I'm stuck!" she sobbed. "I can't move this! You have to help me." Normally cool and collected Crystal was now hysterical, and I couldn't blame her.

"Stay calm!" I instructed her loudly over the roaring noise of the fire. "I'm going to get you out of here!" She nodded frantically. I could see that her arms were all scratched up from trying to shove them through all this splintery wood so many times. I took a step back to assess the situation. If Crystal, who was much taller and stronger than I was, couldn't move this with her bare hands, there was no way I was going to be able to make an impression. My chances were bleak, but I couldn't just leave her here.

In my peripheral vision, I spotted a lone chair one of the chaperones must have been using earlier, and an idea came to me. It wasn't foolproof and there were no guarantees, but it was the best I could come up with at the moment. I quickly folded the chair and then dragged it over to the wood pile blocking the stairs. Then I hoisted it up and jammed it between a few fallen beams. "Stand back!" I warned Crystal. When she was a safe distance back, I began to use the chair like an oversized crowbar, attempting to pry the wood out of place. At first, it appeared to be having no effect whatsoever, but then I saw it starting to give. I put every ounce of strength I possesed into it.

With an unearthly boom, the pile collapsed, leaving an opening just big enough for a small adult to squeeze through. "Come on!" I shouted. Crystal dove into the hole. I grabbed her arms and yanked with all my might. We came tumbling backwards into the hot sand, Crystal on top of me. Just in time, too. The back of the stage was tilting precariously. "We have to move!" I yelled. She got the message, and we both scrambled backwards, not stopping until I felt water rushing against my palms and the sand turned damp and cool. We both sat in shock as the entirety of the stage became one giant bonfire, glowing menacingly against the deep night sky.

Suddenly, a huge figure rushed at us from the beach. It was a firefighter. "Are you girls alright?" he asked us, tipping his smoke mask up to speak. Crystal and I just nodded. "Alright, there's an ambulance waiting in the parking lot. I want you girls to go get checked out, okay?" We nodded again and got shakily to our feet, making our way back to the parking lot and giving the luau site a wide berth. The firefighters were working on getting the blaze under control. The sigh of relief came easier this time, though my lungs still felt parched from all the smoke. Crystal must have been even worse. She had actually been trapped inside the fire for several minutes. Thankfully, other than the cuts on her arms, she seemed unscathed.

"Thanks." Crystal said suddenly. "You saved my life back there." I waved it off, though I did feel pretty heroic and shit.

"You would've done the same for me."

"Yeah, but still. I owe you one, girl." When we reached the ambulance, the EMTs told us to sit down and they started checking our vitals.

"What happened?" I asked after a couple minutes when they were done.

"I don't know." Crystal said, slowly shaking her head. "I was supposed to get up on the stage to announce that limbo would be starting soon. So I was up there for a little while and suddenly everybody started screaming and pointing. I turned around, and the whole thing was on fire. I tried to get down the stairs, but one of the steps broke. I got stuck and I couldn't move for a long time and then it all just started collapsing. It all happened so fast." She was becoming flustered. I patted her back comfortingly.

"It's alright. We got out just fine. It was just a mistake. One of the torches probably tipped over or something." I reassured her, but she shook her head.

"Oh this was no accident." she said darkly. "This was on purpose. Somebody wanted me out of this competition. I guess they figured burning me alive would be a good way to do it."

"What makes you say that?"

"'Cause I found **THIS** taped to the wall in the stairs." Crystal reached down the front of her dress and pulled out a folded piece of paper from where it had been tucked into her bra. She held it out to me. It was damp with sweat and crinkled, but I unfolded it and read it with disbelieving eyes.

_**BURN IN HELL, SKANK.**_

Just below it was a red lipstick kiss.

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><p>There. Nice and long just for you guys. How are your guys' summer vacations going? I hope good. I just got my temps, so I've been practicing driving alot. Thankfully I haven't killed anybody...yet. But seriously, go out and live it up, guys. There's 104 day in summer vacation (at least according to Phineas and Ferb) and they go by fast. So make the most of it. Blast some music in your car, bake some cookies and eat them (don't share, that's no fun), spy on the hot guy that lives behind you when he mows his lawn shirtless (I know I do). Or better yet, do all three of those things at once. It's pure magic.<p>

Love all of you guys!


	7. Abracadabra, Alacazam!

**A/N: **Ohhhh, you guys...last night as I thoughtfully pondered the meaning of life (haha, yeah right), I came to the conclusion that some things are just necessary in order to maintain sanity (or partial sanity at the very least). The list is lengthy, but it definitely includes bright lipstick and shoes, cats, and ice cream for dinner. Mmmm...definitely ice cream for dinner. It's absolutely bonkers delicious that way. Trust me.

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: Abracadabra, Alacazam!<strong>

**Blair's POV**

"I can't believe you ran off like that! Do you know how dangerous that was!"

"Well, **I **can't believe **YOU **left me alone just to spend the whole night with Nadine!"

Gerard turned around to face me and we stood mere inches from each other, our arms crossed and our eyes narrowed to angry slits. We were fighting in the middle of the hotel's hallway. But it was all his fault, of course. Gerard was being Gerard and trying to micromanage my life, acting all protective and pissy about me "behaving recklessly". His apparent attachment to Nadine was just the cherry ontop of the fucking sundae.

"I spent the whole night looking for you." Gerard said vehemently. "I tried telling you to meet me through your bug like five times. You totally ignored me."

"I didn't ignore you!" I shouted, standing up on my tiptoes and trying to look intimidating, though I remained a good two inches shorter that he was.

"You **COMPLETELY** ignored me! I told you to-"

"**I WASN'T IGNORING YOU, BECAUSE I TURNED OFF THAT STUPID BUG!**" This outburst was followed by silence. I was huffing irately, trying to catch my breath. Gerard just remained as still as a statue. His expression faltered slightly at my words, but quickly returned to its stony mask. I heard a door open to my right and turned my gaze away from Gerard to see a woman in a bathrobe with a pasty green face cream on step into the doorway.

"Excuse me, can you two keep it down? I'm trying to get some beauty rest, here." she said sternly.

"Sorry!" Gerard and I said quite loudly in unison, our voices still loaded with anger. The woman retreated back into the safety of her room with a startled expression. When she was gone, our eyes snapped back to each other, both eager to launch another attack for the other's wrongdoing.

"Okay, I think it's past both of your bedtimes." Mikey said nervously, stepping between us with the key card. I shot Gerard one more infuriated glance and then resolved to stand in silence while his peacekeeping brother let us into the room. I was bombarded by a flurry of red hair the second my foot crossed the doorway.

"What happened?" she cried. "I heard there was a fire at the luau!" She was attempting to sound worried, as though concerned in some way for my well-being, but she couldn't disguise her excitement. Maggie just loved when things got interesting. I looked around at all of us gathered in the room. It was big enough, but with eight people (Ashley included) jammed into it, it seemed a bit crowded.

"I suppose I should probably explain." I began, taking a deep breath. As the group listened intently, I narrarated all of the events that happened from the time I got off the bus, pointedly leaving out the parts about Aiden, but flicking my eyes to Gerard's figure when I did. Nobody interrupted me, even as I was finishing with the part about getting back on the bus with Crystal in somewhat of a haze, riding back to the hotel, and finding Mikey and Gerard waiting for me in the lobby. "And now I'm back here with you guys."

"Hmm..." Maggie said thoughtfully. "Do you still have that note?" she asked? It was still clutched in my hand, so I unwrinkled it as best I could and offered it to her. Everyone else gathered around to read it. I already new what it contained, and I had no desire to see it again. Just the words 'burn in hell, skank' printed with finality above the imprint of the author's lips in red lipstick.

"Oh my, this is getting really dangerous." Ashley said, pressing a hand to her mouth after she read the note. "I don't know if we should be meddling in this anymore, Maggie." My best friend looked up at me with questioning eyes. I knew she was silently asking me if I wanted to continue. I sighed. Despite my previous reservations about this plan, I knew I was in too deep to stop now. My curiosity had simply gotten the better of me. I gave her a subtle nod and she went back to studying the note. "I just don't think we're safe. Blair could be in danger."

"She won't be as long as she takes the proper precautions." Gerard said cooly. Everyone turned to look at him, intrigued by his implied tone. I chose to ignore the comment.

"Erm...I think what Gerard is trying to say is that we won't let anything happen to her." Mikey piped up helpfully.

"Well, I just think we need to be really careful now." Ashley continued. I snorted. Now all eyes were on me.

"Sorry, I know you guys are concerned, but if you're trying to be any more 'careful' than you're already being, you're going to have hire personal armed body guards for me."

"We may not be able to hire bodyguards, but we have five perfectly able guys right here." Maggie said. "One of you just needs to be with Blair at all times."

"Especially in the dressing rooms with the other contestants." Bob added, grinning. I threw one of my sandals at him. "Hey, it's a dangerous place." he defended his suggestion.

"Actually, he's probably right." Ashley said. "Especially with tomorrow and all." Everybody nodded while I remained confused.

"And what's tomorrow?" I asked, wracking my brain for something significant that was supposed to be coming up. Nothing came to mind. Seven pairs of eyes were staring at me, though.

"Umm...the preliminaries?" Maggie said slowly, implying that I should be aware of this.

"Oh...right, right." I said, nodding. "What's a preliminary again?" Maggie stared back at me with a blank expression.

"Please tell me you're kidding, Blair." I didn't know how to respond. "I thought Ashley told you about this a few days ago." Her gaze flew to Ashley who was looking alarmed.

"Me? I though **YOU** told her a few days ago."

"Uh oh..." Frank said from where he stood behind Ray, looking especially dwarfed in his companion's tall shadow.

"Would someone mind filling me in here?" I asked in exasperation. Maggie studied me nervously and came over to where I was seated, taking my hands in hers and crouching down so that she was squatting at my level.

"Blair...my very best friend in the whole wide world..." I groaned at this affection. It could only mean that something terrible was about to follow. "It seems we have a bit of a situation on our hands resulting from a very...unfortunate communication gap. The thing is...well, the preliminaries is sort of the first round of competition." She looked carefully at my uncomprehending expression. "Umm...how to put this. Yes, well, to make it short and sweet, we're going to have to come up with a talent performance and practice for your interviews tomorrow or you're going to be eliminated from the competition." She smiled meekly. "Sorry for not mentioning it earlier?"

My only response was to flop backwards onto the bed and stare blankly at the ceiling. It was over. It was all over. There was no way in heaven or hell that I was going to be able to organize a talent and an interview by tomorrow. I glanced at the clock perched on the nightstand and confirmed my fears of the time. It was nearing 10:00 p.m. "I'll go back to my room and start packing my bags." I said listlessly, getting off of the bed and heading for the door. Ashley stepped boldly in front of me.

"Hang on, we're not giving up yet. We've still got time. The preliminaries aren't until 3:00 in the afternoon tomorrow. That gives us..." She looked at the clock and calculated mentally. "Seventeen hours."

"Oh yay." I said sarcastically.

"Well what are you good at?" she asked suddenly. I paused. What **WAS** I good at? I thought about it for awhile, but I wasn't coming up with anything specific.

"Umm...I can play 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' on the piano. Sort of."

"Oh dear Lord." Ashley threw a hand up to her forehead in desperation. She turned to face the rest of the room. "Any of y'all have any ideas?" She was immediately bombarded with suggestions, all of them interesting but equally useless.

"You could make sock puppets!" Frank suggested loudly.

"How about flower arranging?" Mikey said thoughtfully.

"You could make tacos. That's easy." was Bob's contribution.

"Learn ventriliquism!"

"Pole dancing!" The last one was Maggie's idea.

Ashley just shook her head, looking lost. I felt even worse than I had before, as I realized that I couldn't do a single one of those things. Well maybe tacos, but I doubted that the judges would be impressed by me shoving meat and cheese into a corn tortilla. I was about to begin on my way to pack my suitcase again when Ray stood up. He'd taken a seat at the little desk in the room during all the commotion and had been leafing through a local paper the room service had left. "Hey, guys." he said, not taking his eyes off of the paper. "I think I might have an idea."

He flipped the paper around, his index finger indicating an add in the bottom left corner. I squinted at it to make out the words: **Hocus Pocus Magic Shop: Home of the finest magic trick supplies in Alabama. **

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><p>The next few hours were a flurry of activity. Ashley and Maggie quizzed me rigorously in preperation for my interview and then proceeded to argue over which outfit I would wear for it. Ashley thought I should go for an elegant look, and Maggie wanted me in something flirty and fun. I tuned them out by playing about ten rounds of hangman with Mikey. By the time I was released from the room (with the promise of more to be done tomorrow), it was one o' clock in the morning and I was exhausted. Babs was already asleep back in our room so I slipped silently into my bed and practically passed out, still fully clothed.<p>

Morning came too soon, but I dragged myself out of bed and threw on a t-shirt and shorts, lazily running a brush through my hair. Babs looked over at me from where she was applying lip gloss in a compact mirror. "Hey, where'd you run off to last night? I waited up until like...eleven, but you didn't come in." I could tell she was trying not to pry, but instead seem mildly curious.

"Umm, emergency meeting with my pageant consultant team. We had a few things to go over and we kinda lost track of time I guess." I felt bad keeping things from her, but I didn't want to freak her out by mentioning the threatening note for Crystal.

"You sure are over there alot." Babs observed. I didn't know what to say (or even if she expected me to say anything). I settled on shrugging my shoulders noncommittally. She seemed satisfied, though, and chatted with me all the way down to breakfast where we grabbed plates of french toast and sausage links. Bob and Ray were impersonating hotel servers once again. Ray winked at me as he plopped an extra sausage link on my plate. "I feel like I see that guy everywhere." Babs told me under her breath as we walked away to join our usual table.

"Believe me, I know what you mean." When we reached the table, I noticed immediately that Crystal was nowhere to be found. It was oddly quiet without her.

"What happened to Crystal?" Babs asked. Veronica Townsend from Wisconsin leaned in towards us to share something, looking serious.

"Word is, she got caught in the fire last night." Babs gasped.

"Oh no! Is she hurt? She didn't drop out of the competition, did she?" she said.

"Of course she didn't." came a voice from behind us, startling Babs into knocking over a pot of syrup. Crystal strutted over to take a seat next to me. "That's exactly what that creep wants." Everyone looked puzzled by her words. She sighed and began to explain about the note.

"Oh my God, you have to tell someone!" Mimi cried, stunned.

"And have the pageant canceled? That's exactly what they'd do if they found out about this." Crystal snapped as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "There's no way I'm risking that. This scholarship is the only chance I've got at getting into a good college. I'm screwed otherwise." I glanced at Crystal out of the corner of my eye. She looked fiercely determined. For the first time, a flash of suspicion entered my mind. Why wouldn't she tell anyone? Was it because she was afraid of further investigation? And hadn't she just admitted to how desperate she was to win? Was she **THAT** desperate? Enough to almost burn herself alive for the sake of eliminating herself as a suspect?

I shook my head, feeling foolish. There was just no way that it could be Crystal behind the threats. She was far too nice and cool. Still, though, a seed of doubt had been planted. I vowed to keep my eye on Crystal, just to be sure. Nadine was still definitely my number one suspect, though.

"Do you still have that note, Crystal?" Veronica asked her. Crystal shook her head.

"Actually, I gave it to Blair." All eyes were on me. I felt my own pair grow wide as they waited for explanation.

"Oh...yeah." I tried to act like it was no big deal. "I must've left it upstairs somewhere. I don't totally remember where I put it." This was a lie. I knew exactly where it was: sitting on the desk upstairs in the hotel room shared by Maggie and the guys, right next to the other notes we'd collected. So far we had the vandalized picture of Ashley, the note Babs had found slipped under our door, and then the one from the fire. Babs opened her mouth with a question on her lips, but was interrupted before she could ask it. A large olive-skinned hand came down on her shoulder. I followed the arm attached to it and found that it belonged to Aiden. I blushed fiercely, suddenly feeling very guilty for running away from him last night.

"Hey, Mom's looking for you." he said to Babs, squeezing her shoulder. She simply nodded and slid out of her chair, apologizing to us for having to leave. When she had gone, Aiden turned his attention to me. "Hey there." He grinned. I could tell that the other girls were as equally enamored with his looks as I was. They alternated between staring at him longingly and shooting jealous looks in my direction.

"Hey, yourself." I said, trying to play it cool and then cringing mentally when I realized how stupid I must sound. Aiden's smile only got wider though. "Listen, I'm sorry about last night-" I began, looking down at my plate in shame.

"Hey, don't even worry about it. I totally understand. You were worried. It's no problem." I looked up at him gratefully. "Well, I suppose I should probably get going and let you get ready for tonight. My mom's already freaking out back in the hotel room." He laughed and every single girl at the table giggled breathily along with him. I didn't want him to go just yet, but I couldn't think of anything else to say so I just nodded. "I'd stay and join you, but they put cinnamon on the french toast." It took me a minute to put two and two together, but then I remembered that he was allergic to cinnamon. "I swear they put cinnamon on just about everything these days, but hey...what are ya gonna do? Anyways, see you around." He smiled once more at me and then nodded politely to the rest of the table before walking away.

"Whoo! Who is that?" Crystal asked, watching Aiden's retreating figure.

"Oh, that's Babs's brother, Aiden." I said, watching him myself.

"Well, I'd say that Aiden's got the hots for you, girl." She said, shoving my playfully.

"Shut up." I said, though I blushed hotter even than before and couldn't eat another bite of my french toast. My stomach was too full of butterflies.

* * *

><p>Immediately after breakfast, I was dragged into an empty conference room on the ground floor by Ashley. She pulled a chair into the center of the room and began launching rapid-fire questions at me about everything from what I loved about Alabama to what I planned to do with the scholarship money if I won. My head was beginning to spin. Laid out on the long conference table was a selection of different outfits she had yet to choose from. With us in the room were Gerard and Mikey, and Bob and Ray came in eventually to relieve us with a lunch break from a local Chinese take-out place. I was told that Maggie and Frankie had volunteered to go down to the Magic trick shop and pick up some things I would need for the talent act I was supposed to be performing in mere hours.<p>

My stomach churned at the thought. I knew absolutely nothing, and I mean **NOTHING** about magic tricks, and yet I would be expected to learn multiple different kinds if I wanted to continue on in the pageant. I'd been meticulously arranging chairs and index cards and had even yelled at Bob when he forgot to push his chair back into the table. It was safe to say that my nervous cleaning habit had kicked in.

"I feel like we should be able to figure out whose behind these threats if we study these closely enough." Gerard had brought down our evidence and was analyzing it closely whilst eating his Kung Pao chicken. I glanced down at him. He had a tiny bit of brown sauce on the corner of his lips. I felt suddenly inclined to grab a napkin and wipe it away, but instead I clasped my hands behind my back. We hadn't talked since our argument last night and had been avoiding each other coolly all morning. Mikey leaned over the table, squinting at the notes and very narrowly missing sloshing his bowl of hot and sour soup all over the evidence.

"Maybe we can tell from the lip print. You know...like figure out whose lips look like that, and then we'll have our girl." he suggested. Both him and I bent forward to study the lip print. It looked distinctly feminine, with a full quality to the lips and a pronounced Cupid's bow. Other than that, I saw nothing that made it particularly special, and therefore it remained useless as a means of identifying our culprit. Bob peered over my shoulder to have a look.

"Ray's lips look like that." he said bluntly. We all turned to look at Ray. He had a baby corn stuck halfway in his mouth and a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face.

"What?" he asked thickly through the corn. I laughed, but there was no denying it. Ray had huge lips for a guy, with a Cupid's bow that rivaled even the lips on the threats. Somehow, though, I didn't think Ray was behind any of this.

"Oh my God, yeah! They do! You have like...black man lips." Mikey said, laughing hysterically. Ray's hand flew up to his mouth.

"Are you sure your dad wasn't black?" Gerard asked jokingly.

"Well, I'm fairly posititive seeing as he was...you know...**WHITE**!" Ray retorted emphatically.

"Maybe the dad you knew wasn't really your dad if you know what I mean." Mikey said lecherously, nudging Ray with his elbow. He was smart enough to see the look on Ray's face, though, and took off running from the conference room not a moment too soon.

"You're dead, Way!" Ray yelled furiously, though I could see a smile playing on the very lips we were teasing him about as he chased after Mikey. We all howled with laughter.

"Is there a reason Ray has Mikey pinned to the floor in the hallway?" Maggie slipped into the conference room, looking behind her to where they must have been. I could hear Mikey apologizing profusely.

"Don't ask." I advised her. "Where's Frankie? Did you get the stuff?"

"Yeah, I sent him upstairs to the room with it. And I just got this from some chick named Mimi." she said, holding up a piece of paper to give to me. "She said she was handing them out to all the contestants and since she couldn't find you, she wanted me to deliver it. You're supposed to fill it out before the preliminaries." I took it from her and skimmed it quickly. It looked like a standard survey. There was a place to put my name and information, followed by a brief list of questions appearing to center around my hobbies and interests. I groaned loudly and sunk down lower in my chair, sliding the form away from me on the table. Mikey picked it up with curiosity.

"I'm so tired!" I moaned, rubbing my dry eyes. "I don't wanna fill out that stupid form. I just spent the last three hours getting hammered with questions from Ashley. How much information do they possibly need about me? I feel like they're gonna write my fucking biography or something."

"Well, sorry for trying to prepare you for your interview." Ashley huffed. "If you wanna lose, go ahead. Be my guest." I blinked at her. She looked nearly as tired as I felt. Apparently, I hadn't been the only one losing sleep in this ordeal.

"I'm sorry, Ashley, I'm just exhausted. I really am super grateful for you doing all this. It's been a huge help." She still looked slightly put out, but my words seemed to soften her a bit.

"Well, you're going to have to suck it up. We've got a talent to practice." Maggie said firmly, pulling me up to my feet. I sighed heavily, but allowed myself to be dragged out of the room by my red haired leader. "Mikey, come with me." she called back without looking behind her.

"Why?" Mikey asked, puzzled.

"Because I need you for something." Maggie stated simply, continuing to exit the conference room.

"But...I'm not finished with my soup-"

"Just do it, Michael." She finally turned around to glare at him with fiery demand in her blue eyes.

"Fine." Mikey sighed, pushing aside his food and sliding his lanky body off his perch on the table to follow us.

"Now, if you two both do exactly what I tell you to, Blair will have no problem at all advancing in the pageant. You just have to trust me."

I gulped. I couldn't tell who I was more frightened for: myself or Mikey.

* * *

><p>"We are so late! Oh my Gandhi, I am out of shape." I was panting, trying to dodge parked cars as I ran through the parking lot out front of the building where the preliminaries were being held. This would eventually house the Finals competition where the winner of the pageant would be chosen. Me, Maggie, and Mikey had gotten so wrapped up in practicing for the talent portion of the competition, we'd lost track of time, and I missed the bus that was supposed to take contestants to the theater. I still didn't understand why nobody had been sent to find me (I mean, wasn't it kind of bad if one of us was suddenly missing?), but I didn't have time to puzzle over that at the moment. My only concern was getting backstage in time to change and go on.<p>

I could hear the others running behind me. Finally skidding to a stop at the entrance, I wrenched open one of the heavy doors and sprinted through the throng of people gathered in the lobby, waiting to file into the theater where the stage was set up at the head of endless rows of cushioned chairs.

I spotted an out-of-the-way door labeled **Stage Entrance **and dashed to it, waving my hand so that my consultant team would follow. A tall man in an all-black outfit wearing an ear bug just like mine was guarding the door, obviously there to prohibit rapists from trying to gain access to the dressing area backstage. "I'm...a contestant." I puffed out, breathing heavily. "Miss...Alabama, Blair Hunter. I'm so late. I need to get backstage."

"I'm sorry," the man said in a deep voice, "I can't let you backstage without a lanyard."

"A what?" I asked.

"A lanyard. All constestants were given a lanyard with a special card attached that allows them access to backstage areas. I'm sorry, but unless you have one, I'm going to have to ask you to either find a seat with the audience or leave." Shit! In all my preperations, and the fact that I'd missed the bus, I obviously hadn't received the necessary lanyard.

"But I'm Miss Alabama." I protested weakly. "I have to perform so that I can have a chance at moving on." The man just shook his head and apologized again. I was debating on whether or not to get down on my knees, grab his leg and beg him to let me through, when Gerard figured out a different diversion.

"Oh for Christ's sake," he said, sounding exasperated. "Look! A woman's purse! I think I'm going to steal it and run away!" He grabbed an olive green bag off the shoulder of a middle aged woman standing nearby and took off with it through the lobby, heading for a flight of stairs that led to the second level of the building. "I hope nobody tries to catch me!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"My purse!" the woman shrieked, pointing after Gerard. The man guarding the door looked back and forth between us and Gerard's fast-retreating figure.

"Dammit." he muttered. "Stay right here." He gave us a warning look and then dashed after Gerard. The woman whose purse had been stolen looked stunned. She just stood where she was.

"Sorry about that." I said softly. "I'm sure he'll be more than happy to return your purse as soon as he's apprehended." I gave her a reassuring pat on the arm and then pushed through the stage door. I ran up a narrow ramp and turned a sharp corner before colliding into somebody's back. Whoever it was was small because I knocked them right to the floor.

"Blair?" It turned out to be Babs, looking up at me in surprise through her thick lashes. I pulled her up as Maggie, Mikey, Frankie, Bob, Ray and Ashley crowded in around me. "Where were you? You missed the bus. I thought you were gonna miss the preliminaries. You know, if you're not here to compete they disqualify you."

"Yeah, I know. I lost track of time. Why didn't anybody come and find me? I was just up in my hotel room."

"I tried to get them to go look for you, but they said we had a schedule to follow and that they had to get everyone where they needed to be on time." she said, mimicking an annoying chaperone voice. She took in my disbelieving expression. "But it's okay, because you made it. I think you still have time to get changed." I saw her look me up and down in my t-shirt, shorts, and worn black Chucks. I noticed that she was already in her costume: a sleek crimson leotard, sheer white tights, and crimson ballet flats.

"What's your talent?" I asked, taking her in. She looked stunning, her olive skin glowing and every strand of her short brown hair combed into place. Her wide eyes made her appear as some sort of extraordinarily lifelike doll.

"Oh, I'm dancing." She gave a small twirl. "How about you?"

"Oh...it's um...well, you'll have to see." I explained nervously. She nodded. "Well, I better go get changed. Good luck." We slipped past her and into the main area of the backstage. We were surrounded by girls, some of them stretching, others warming up their voices, and still others doing obscure things like twirling batons. "You guys, I am going to lose miserably." I said, watching a girl in front of me on the floor fold herself into a pretzle-like shape.

"Just relax and you'll do fine. Let Ashley help you into your costume." Maggie gestured toward a dressing screen. A blonde girl in a tight magenta leotard stepped out from behind it, pulling her hair back.

"I am in heaven." Mikey muttered as all of the guys' eyes followed the blonde.

My costume consisted of black, high-waisted dress pants with gold buttons. Tucked into these was a white blouse, and I was bedecked in a red bow tie and black suit jacket (courtesy of the waiter's uniforms Bob and Ray had stolen). To top it all off, I wore black high heels, which I was slowly becoming more comfortable in, and a black top hat. Surprisingly, the costume fit me well and actually looked pretty good. I stepped out from behind the dressing screen and Frankie whistled.

"Whoa, sexy magician!" Maggie said, beaming. "Get it, girl!" I laughed loudly, but I was already starting to get nervous. How long did I have before I was supposed to be on stage performing a routine I'd learned just hours ago? "Well, if nothing else, maybe the judges will think you're super hot and let you win even if you suck."

"Thanks, Mag. Now where's my assistant?"

"Present!" Mikey raised a skinny arm. He would serve as my magician's assistanct and was already in costume (a simple black tuxedo we'd rented from some store with Maggie's marvelous credit card). He was leaning against the concrete wall to my right, reading a sheet of paper.

"Nice rented tux, Mikey." Bob said, grinning.

"Shut the fuck up." Mikey said without looking up. I turned to Frankie.

"Are you ready to help us with that one trick?" I asked him, trying to do it under my breath. Mikey heard me, though, and looked up.

"What trick do we need Frank for?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"Oh, it's nothing. Really. You'll...uh...know when it happens." He looked about ready to interrogate me further, so I asked him about the paper he was holding in order to divert his attention.

"I think you were supposed to fill this out and hand it in." He held up the paper to show me. It was the survey sheet from Mimi.

"Shit!" I said, face-palming. "I completely forgot about that!" I looked around frantically for something to write with.

"Alright, ladies! Time to start lining up! Come on, we have to get you ready. We're on stage in ten minutes!" A woman wearing a headset was grabbing girls left and right and shoving them towards a forming line. I gulped as she neared me, unsure of what to do.

"Hey, me and Mikey can fill this out quick!" Frankie suggested, looking at the form. I had no choice. The woman was already grabbing my elbow and directing me somewhat forcefully away.

"Okay, but do you have any idea what I like?" I asked, fighting the crowd that was shoving me backwards.

"Don't worry, we'll figure something out." Frankie said in a reassuring tone.

"Well...just don't put anything weird on there!" I tried to tell them, but I didn't know if they heard me or not because I was suddenly consumed by the crowd and forced to begin making my way along with the rest of the girls. I tried to block everything else out and just focus on running through my routine. I tried to remember each of the tricks Maggie had gone through with me. Apparently she had done "extensive internet research" and been advised by whoever was in the magic shop. These facts didn't make me feel much better, but at least I had some tiny smidgen of hope to cling to.

After standing in line for a few minutes and figuring out that we were going to be parading around on the stage when we went out there, I dimly heard somebody talking over a microphone to the crowd, but I didn't really register what exactly they were saying. Since the line was in alphabetical order by state, I was of course first in line and therefore the first one that would have to walk onstage. The girls behind me giggled nervously and I snapped to attention just in time to catch the last of the announcer's speech. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, before we get to see what talents these beautiful ladies have to offer, let's meet our contestants. Please welcome the America's Junior Miss competitors of 2012!" I heard roaring applause and took a deep breath, concentrating on keeping my chinese takeout lunch in my stomach.

I tried to remain calm as I stepped out on stage, but my guts were doing somersaults. The lights were bright and hot, and it was all I could do to squint through the intense lighting to see the crowd. The theater looked to be nearly sold out; I couldn't pick out many empty chairs. Apparently, the America's Junior Miss Pageant was somewhat of an attraction in Alabama. We filed out until all of us were in view and then came to a still. It was then that I noticed the cameras recording from an awning up above the crowd. This was being broadcast on TV? I kept smiling as best I could, but internally I was worrying about whether or not I was about to puke, and also whether my mom had unfortunately decided to watch this and would see...well...me.

"First up is the lovely Miss Alabama, Blair Hunter!" The announcer cried enthusiastically, and a spotlight snapped on to me. My eyes widened and I froze. The girl behind me seemed to gather that I was lost and gave me a discreet push forward so that I knew what to do. I walked out to the head of the stage and the crowd clapped loudly as the spotlight followed me and the announcer narrarated. "Blair enjoys a variety of activities including...handfishing, listening to Irish compositional music, and helping out on her uncle's goat farm. What a...diverse young lady."

My eyes narrowed to slits as he went on. Obviously, trusting Frankie and Mikey with listing my personal information had not been the brightest idea. I partially blamed myself for allowing them to do so, but still searched the crowd for them as I smiled and waved before remembering that they would both be backstage preparing for my act. I did however spot the rest of the group in one of the rows up front reserved for pageant consultants and saw that they were all doubled over in laughter.

I was about to set off to go strangle Frankie and Mikey offstage, but apparently the announcer wasn't done. "But what she most loves to do is to volunteer for her favorite charity organization, the...umm...Hesphalumtidus...Syndrome Disease Reasearch Center, after having suffered from the disease herself." The host looked just as confused as I was furious with Mikey and Frankie. Just...don't ask about the disease. Just don't. It's a long story dating back to my St. James days.

I gave one final wave and then stalked offstage, my face hot with embarrassment. Now everybody thought I worked on a goat farm and had some made-up disease. Great! Several other girls were introduced over the mic, but I paid absolutely no attention. Instead, I sat brooding on a folding chair. Suddenly, a girl with red, curly hair I had seen before at meals but never talked to flounced over to me, beaming. "Oh my God!" she squealed excitedly. I was taken aback by her demeanor. "No way! You listen to Irish compositions too? I love them! What's your favorite? I've heard them all." She waited eagerly for my answer.

I had the misfortune of never in my life having listened to any form of Irish music unless you counted the bagpipe soundtrack they played in my local grocery store on St. Patrick's Day. I had to think quickly. "Uh...the um...Shamrock Shuffle." I blurted. She thought for a moment.

"Hmm...I don't know if I've heard that one before. Who's it by?"

"DJ...Patrick. DJ Patrick." This was getting stupider by the milisecond.

"Huh, I've **NEVER** heard that one before." Well, either this girl was dumber than a door nail, or just too polite to call me on my bluff.

"Yeah, most people haven't. It's very...uh...new. Very modern!" I spotted Mikey over her shoulder and, despite my frustration with him, was more than happy to have an excuse to leave. "Anyways, gotta go. Bye!" I jumped up from my chair and darted past the red head, leaving her with a startled expression. Mikey was leaning up against a mirror and table set meant for doing your makeup in, surrounding by a group of five or six girls that, for some reason I couldn't fathom, seemed to be hanging on his every word.

"And **THAT** ladies is the story of how I set a hoard of bats loose at my boarding school. Pretty cool huh?" I caught the end of his story as I approached them.

"Wow, that's amazing." one girl said in admiration.

"You've got a great sense of humor." another crooned, leaning forward to put a hand on his arm. Mikey looked to be in a state of hot girl nirvana. I cleared my throat and his and all the girls' eyes flew to me standing there with my arms crossed.

"A word, Michael?" I said through clenched teeth. He tried a grin on, but it faltered slightly when he saw my unwaveringly steely expression.

"I'll be back, ladies. Just have to discuss a few things with my friend here. She probably wants some advice about her talent performance." He slipped through the girls and followed me a few feet away from them. They turned away, dissappointed that I'd stolen him. "Look, Blair, I'm really sorry." he said earnestly as soon as I turned to face him. "It was all Frankie's idea. I swear." I opened my mouth to tell him off, but I was cut of by the woman in the headset as she tapped me on the shoulder.

"You're on in three." she stated simply. I stared at her blankly.

"Three what?"

"Three minutes. Just stand right over here and wait until the announcer gives you your cue." She directed me and Mikey towards the little corner offstage right near the opening in the curtain. "You're the magic act, right?" she asked, looking down at the clipboard she held. I nodded, my nerves making it impossible for me to speak. "Alright, we've got your stuff all ready to go. Put on this little mic." She handed me a miniature flesh colored microphone that hooked around my ear and stretched to my mouth. "Good luck." The woman walked away muttering into her headset, leaving me and Mikey alone.

"Blair, I'm sorry-" Mikey began again.

"Just...just make it up to me on stage." I said, breathing deeply as I placed the mic around my ear. All my annoyance had given way to extreme stage fright. Mikey had never been a very efficient comforter, but he patted my back somewhat awkwardly and I felt just a tad bit better. It was the thought the counted.

"And, now..." the announcer said dramatically. I could see him just barely from where I stood. "The moment you've all been waiting for. The talent portion of the competition! Our first act is none other than Blair Hunter, Miss Alabama and her assistant, Oswald, performing their marvelous magic act!"

"You named me Oswald?" Mikey hissed, looking horrified.

"You made me a goat farmer. Get over it." I took the deepest breath I could possibly inhale and then walked forward under the hot lights once again. Several burly men wearing all black were bringing out my equipment. The audience sat quietly in their seats, staring up at me in expectation. Mikey stood silently to my right. All of the people and the cameras were making my head spin. I could see my face on the screens that showed an up close view of me to the audience out of the corner of my eye. I suddenly felt incapable of speech. I could scarcely move.

_"This is it, Blair. You failed. Way to go." _I thought bitingly, still unable to talk. The theater seemed absolutely silent. And then I caught Gerard's face in the crowd. His eyes met mine and held my gaze. For all our coolness towards each other during the day, I was sure he would turn away bitterly, still mad. Instead, though, he nodded his head encouragingly and winked. His reassurance filled me with a rush of courage to speak, and so I turned on my mini mic.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" I boomed out to the crowd. "Umm...prepare to be amazed. These tricks are sure to boggle your minds and take your breath away. My name is Blair, and please give a warm welcome to my assistant, Oswald!" I swung my hand in Mikey's direction and the crowd clapped politely. I sucked in another calming breath. "Let's begin with our first trick. Oswald, would you bring the table over?" Mikey did as he was told and wheeled over a small table covered with a velvet cloth so that it was directly in front of me. I took off my top hat.

"Now, as you can see, this is a perfectly ordinary top hat." I showed the inside of it to the crowd and then tipped it upside down to illustrate my point. "Completely empty." I set it down strategically on the table. "Or is it?" I asked dramatically. "Let's see." I reached my hand inside the hat slowly. Little did the audience know that the table was actually hollow inside, with a small hole in it's top over which I had placed my hat. I un-velcrowed the little flap over the matching hole in my top hat and was able to reach through that to get what we had placed in the table, thus making it look as though I had produced it out of thin air in my magical hat.

"Well, I guess it's not empty after all." I pulled my hand back out of the hat, holding up a large cabbage. "Sorry. We were uh...a little short on time to find a rabbit." I said. The audience guffawed and applauded fiercely. I beamed and nodded at Mikey. So far, so good. "But let's move on to something a bit more exciting then pulling produce out of my hat." The audience chuckled again as I set the cabbage aside, re-velcrowed the hat, and placed it back on my head. Mikey wheeled my table away.

"For this trick, I will need something from someone in the crowd. Does anybody happen to have a match?" A few seconds later, I saw a man a few rows back from the stage raised his hand and held up a small match book. "Perfect!" I cried enthusiastically. "Oswald, go fetch me that match!" Mikey glared at me like he'd like to tell me exactly where to shove the match, but he went to go get it from the volunteer obediently. He returned to the stage and dropped a match into my palm, but it wasn't the match he'd received from the man. It was a special match Maggie had purchased from the magic shop for this particular trick. "My wand, Oswald?" He produced it out of his pocket and passed it off.

Concealed inside the stem of the match was a tiny metal rod, and inside my compatible wand was a strong magnet. "I'll bet none of you has ever seen a match levitate before, have you? Well...you're about to." I moved my wand slowly closer to the match, and as I did so the match began to wiggle in my palm as a result of the reaction between the metal and magnet. The cameras would be filming this up close so that the audience could see what I was doing on the screens. Then I hovered the wand directly over my palm and watched the match slowly rise up so that it was standing on its end in my hand. "Voila!" I cried, and the audience erupted in applause.

"Perhaps not as impressive as me levitating myself, but we do have a bit of a surprise for you for our last trick. And, I'm pretty sure this will be somewhat of a surprise for Oswald, too." Mikey glanced over at me, looking clueless. "Can you wheel out the case, please?" I directed to the stagehands. They immediately came forward onto the stage, pushing a long wooden magician's case. You know those things that they use to cut people in half with? Yeah...this was that. While the men were positioning the case, Mikey siddled over to me, trying to look calm.

"What is this?" he whispered to me discreetly.

"Our last trick." I said, barely moving my lips and holding the mic away from my mouth.

"And how come I don't know about this?"

"Because me and Maggie rehearsed it in secret because we knew you wouldn't let us do it otherwise." Mikey's eyes bugged as I shared this information, but I grabbed him by the shoulders and steered him to the case. "The wonderful Oswald will now climb into this box." I boomed, more for Mikey's direction than the audience's knowledge. He looked extremely hesitant, but maneuvered his bony frame into the case. "Now he will stick his feet through the bottom holes." I looked pointedly at him.

A pair of feet came out of the bottom holes in the box. But these were Frankie's feet, not Mikey's. Mikey was in the half of the box that ended with a solid wall. Frankie was smushed into the other half, unbeknowngst to the audience, and would pretend to be Mikey's lower half. It was a very prestigious job. Mikey didn't seem to be quite catching on, but he laid down so that his head was sticking out of the front of the case anways. I shut the lid with a snap. "And now...we will test just how powerful my magic is." I said, turning to face the crowd. "Remember...if this goes wrong, my assistant could lose his life."

"What?" Mikey hissed behind me. I ignored him.

"Do not try this at home, boys and girls. I advise anybody with a nervous stomach to look away." I then swooped under the case and pulled out a chainsaw. It was medium-sized so that I could hold it, and bright orange. Maggie picked it up at a Home Depot. I wondered vaguely what the clerk's reaction might have been when two teenagers purchased a chainsaw, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. "And now, I will cut Oswald in two!" I cried, pulling the chain and holding it away from me as it roared to life. The audience gasped. Thankfully, the loudness of the chainsaw masked Mikey's screams of terror. Apparently, we had been right not to tell him about this beforehand.

I brandished the chainsaw over the spot I was supposed to cut (marked by a barely visible line) and brought the chainsaw down, cutting through the wood of the case. When I was done, I shut the tool off and set it carefully aside. Then I peeked into the box. "Oh that is nasty." I said jokingly. The audience laughed. Mikey's face was pale and sweaty. He looked like he might have passed out. Actually...I think he might have. Whoops. "Well, that's all the time we have for today, folks! I have to go sew Oswald back together! Thank you and have a great day!"

The men came to wheel the case backstage and put away my other props. Mikey was still quite unconcious. I hurried after him. When we were off the stage, I flung open the lid and tried to pull him up, shaking his shoulders. "Mikey!" I yelled. "Mikey, come on. You're not cut in half. It was only an act." Frankie suddenly popped out of his end of the box, taking in his friend's limp form.

"What happened to him?"

"I think I might have scared him a little with that chainsaw." I admitted sheepishly. Then I saw Mikey's lips moving. His eyes fluttered open weakly. A mumbled phrase came out of his mouth. I leaned in closer to hear him. "What did you say, Mikey?"

"I'm never allowing you near me with any lawn tools or household appliances again. I hate you." I just laughed and dropped him back down. He moaned when his head hit the floor of the case.

"He's okay!" I said to Frankie, relieved. Mikey rolled over onto his side and took a few puffs from his pocketed inhaler.

"Alabama, let's go! We've got to get you changed for your interviews!" The woman with the headset had returned.

"Are you gonna be okay, you big baby?" I asked Mikey, poking his shoulder.

"I'm just gonna lay here and go to my happy place. Unicorns...cupcakes..." I rolled my eyes, shut the lid to the case and hurried off to change.

* * *

><p>The interviews flew by. It was a million times less nerve wracking than I thought it would be. We filed on the stage in groups of five and sat in an arc of chairs in our pretty dresses, smiled alot, and answered the questions asked of us by the announcer in the cheesiest, most ass-kissing way we could manage. The judges watched us from their table, scribbling on clipboards and nodding as we talked. It was a piece of cake.<p>

I believe I was asked a grand total of two questions: one about who I looked up to as a role model (I believe I said my mother. Gotta keep this family-friendly.) and one about my personal definition of success. It all happened so quickly, I barely remember it, but I thought I did pretty well. And Ashley had grilled me so extensively for this? My eyes ached at the thought of all the wasted sleep.

All of the contestants were now standing on the stage, waiting for the results of the preliminaries to be announced. Only ten of the 49 of us would be moving on. As I stood there, I actually felt something new and unfamiliar. A desire to move on. Not just for the sake of finding out who was behind the threats, but for me. To prove something to myself. That I could do this. I felt somebody take my hand. It was Babs. She gave my sweaty hand a friendly squeeze, smiling tentatively. I squeezed back. It was nice to find that somebody else was as anxious as I was.

"The envelope please?" The announcer said. One of the judges, a woman with uniformly straight brown hair cut just below her chin, stepped forward and handed him a manila envelope. It was unimpressive and plain, but the thought of its contents sent my heart racing. I fiddled with a fold in my soft gray dress. "And now for the final ten young women who will be competing in the Finals portion of the America's Junior Miss Pageant. In no particular order, they are..." He opened the envelope and looked down at the list, studying it for a moment before beginning to read off the names. Each announcement was follwed by smatterings of applause from the audience, some notably more loud than others.

"Mimi Harold, Miss New York. Kaitlyn Waverly, Miss Washington. Veronica Townsend, Miss Wisconsin. Cara Bentley, Miss California. Crystal Monty, Miss Virginia." I clapped wildly when Crystal's name was called. She beamed and stepped forward to stand at the head of the stage with the other girls whose names had been called. I was so glad she was moving on until my suspicions about her re-entered my mind. But then the announcer read off another name and drove all other thoughts from my mind. "Blair Hunter, Miss Alabama." I just stood there, wide eyed. I did it. I couldn't believe it. I'd actually advanced to the next round of competition. I was going to compete in the finals!

"That's you!" a girl to my left said, smiling. She pushed me forward. Applause resounded through the theater as I joined the others. I saw Maggie and the others jump to their feet, cheering. Ashley looked like she was on the verge of tears. Turning my head, I caught sight of Mikey and Frankie going ballistic backstage. They were hugging eachother and jumping up and down. I smiled a huge smile (for real this time) and felt my eyes prick a little.

The other four girls were called: Maria Marquez, Nadine Smith, Jamie Landers, Barbara Hearst. I wrapped Babs in an enormous hug when she was called and I heard the audience laughing as she stumbled backwards. In doing so though, I became suddenly aware of Nadine's stare. She was looking directly at me. When I returned her gaze, she flashed a look of contempt and turned away quickly. I couldn't have cared obviously hadn't expected that I would be in the top ten. The announcer said a few more things, but before I knew it I was running offstage with the other girls. Some of the ones who hadn't made it were crying, and even some of the ones that had were as well.

"Alright, everyone! Grab your things, we have to head back to the bus. Your families will be in the lobby. You can stop to say hello and take pictures, but everyone needs to be on that bus in fifteen minutes!" With that, the chaperone turned us loose. I darted down the ramp and out of the stage entrance door, noting that its stubborn guard was nowhere to be found. I had just spotted a head of bright orange hair and was about to set off in that direction when somebody stepped in my path.

"Hey, you were great up there. Congratulations." Aiden said, grabbing my shoulders and smiling down at me.

"Thanks." I said breathily. "I was afraid my talent wasn't going to be that great since we were kinda pressed for time to practice it."

"No, it was awesome. The audience loved it. How did you do that match thing? That was sweet." I smirked mysteriously.

"Ah ah ah...a magician never reveals her secrets."

"Right. Well, I've gotta go find my sister and congratulate her, too. But you were great. You definitely deserve a spot in the finals." He studied my face for a moment and then, without warning, swooped down to give me a peck on the lips. I froze, completely caught off guard. And then he was gone.

"There you are! We were looking all over for you. Way to kick some serious ass up there." Maggie emerged from the crowd and threw an arm around me. "Your magic act was totally bitchin', mostly thanks to me, but still... Come on. After we get back to the hotel, we're all going out to grab ice cream to celebrate. Double chocolate fudge sundae, here I come!" She started to drag me out towards the bus. My legs were like limp spaghetti. "Are you okay? You look a little...out of it."

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, my head feeling strangely empty. It was completely devoid of all thought. Maggie stopped to peer into my face.

"Are you sure?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. Just...excited is all. Let's go so we can get some ice cream." I gave her the most genuine smile I could muster and then I set off towards the bus, trying to deny the growing unexplainable guilt settling deep into my chest.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Today is hot. And boring. Yesterday, I woke up and put on a dress and heels and I baked a cake for my mom's friend's baby shower. It was beautiful and white with pastel flower sprinkles and pink gel writing. I consumed the equivalent of an entire slice of cake in scraps from trimming and frosting. Today, there is no cake to bake, and I am sad. But I wrote a story about a crazy chick undercover in a pageant who dresses up like a magician and cuts people in half with chainsaws, so I don't consider the day a complete waste. :)

Just a heads up, I'm going on vacation this Friday, so I won't be able to reply to any of your reviews or PMs, but trust me...if you leave 'um, I'll get 'um and write you back with every bit of love in my black little heart. Me and the whole fam-damily are going to St. Louis, if any of you are interested in stalking me. If so, I guess I'll see you there (most likely bound and gagged in your basement, but hey...I'm a go-with-the-flow kind gal).


	8. Spidey Senses

**A/N: **Hola chicas, chicos, and...well...I don't know the Spanish word for transgender. Hmm...maybe that's Level 3 Spanish. I only ever got to Level 2. Well anyways, I just got back from vacation, and it was very loverly. We visited this Abe Lincoln Museum and we went up in the St. Louis Arch, and I got ice cream from this really kick ass ice cream place that's been around since like the 1930's or something like that. Yummy yummy in my tummy. But now I'm all back and shit, so...I figured I'd work my magic with the keyboard and see if I can whip up something good. Wish me luck.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: Spidey Senses Are Not Supposed To Work Like This<strong>

**Blair's POV**

I was huddled deep into a booth at Baskin Robbins, my feet up on the seat with my knees pulled into my chest, the side of my head resting on the cool window glass through which cloudy gray skies were visible. This was supposed to be my happy place. Me, clutching my cotton candy ice cream cone in my hands, just chillin'. But all I could feel was mental exhaustion. Thoughts of everything were running through my mind: the pageant, the threats, Aiden...Gerard. So much was cramming itself into my brain that I didn't even register that my ice cream was melting and dribbling down my wrists and arms until Bob pointed it out emotionlessly.

I groaned at the sticky mess I'd become and stood up, forcing Mikey and Ashley (who'd been sitting in the booth on my side) to get up and let me through. I tossed my barely-touched celebratory dessert into the nearest trashcan and then attacked my arms with the cheap, papery napkins that Baskin Robbins provided for their customers. Customers like me, who got lost in thought and let their ice cream melt all over themselves. Trying to scrub the last of the sugary residue away, I felt my phone vibrate in the back pocket of my costume pants I'd neglected to change out of. It was my mom.

My friends seemed currently occupied enough with their ice creams and each other, so I slipped wordlessly into the bathroom to answer my call. "Hello?" I said, leaning against a somewhat sanitary-looking sink.

"Hi, honey." My mom's lovingly high pitched voice came over the line. "How's it going?" I started to have a brief panic attack. Oh no! Had I forgotten to call my mom? The last time I was away from home, I didn't call for days and my mom had been **PISSED**. Then I remembered with relief that I'd talked to her a day or two ago.

"Oh, you know...good. We're just out for some ice cream right now." Even though my soul was laden down with guilt from lying to her through my teeth, it was comforting to talk with my mother. Especially at a time like this when everything felt like a crushing weight on my chest.

"Well, I won't keep you long. I just wanted to check in and see how everyone was doing."

"We're good. Working on Maggie's article. Seeing the sights. That sort of thing."

"Oh! That reminds me!" my mother said with renewed enthusiasm. "I checked the TV Guide and I found out the time for the America's Junior Miss Pageant so I can watch it. Eight p.m. on Saturday night. Do you guys get special tickets since you're 'prestigious reporters' now?" What had so recently felt like a soothing conversation now induced the feeling of someone having dropped a cold, heavy boulder into my stomach. My mom was going to be watching the pageant on Saturday? No, no. This could not happen.

"No!" I blurted loudly into the phone. My mother was silent, probably stunned by my reaction. "I mean...psh! Why would you want to watch it? From the research we've been gathering, it seems really boring. Just a bunch of girls parading around in fancy dresses for two hours."

"Oh, it doesn't sound so bad. Besides, if you're going, maybe I'll see you on tv in the audience."

_'Oh, you'll definitely see me on tv.' _I thought worriedly. _'But I don't think it'll be in the audience.' _

"I really don't think its your cup of tea, mom." I tried again, nervously fiddling with the paper towel dispenser. "I'd just skip it if I were you. And anyways, isn't that one show you like on Saturday's at 8?"

"What show?" my mom asked, sounding confused.

"You know..that one show. That you like. With the...guy. And the...girl."

"Blair Hunter, is there some reason that you don't want me to watch this pageant?" She sounded stern now.

"What? No! Of course not! I...I'm not...no." I stuttered, trying to think of a good response that didn't sound laced with guilt. Obviously, that plan went out the window as soon as I opened my mouth.

"Blair-" my mom began, but she was cut off by another voice in the background. I waited patiently until she came back on. "Well, your brother seems to urgently want to talk to you." I was taken aback. Chris usually avoided conversing with me (his "crazy", "annoying" older sister) at all costs. Unless, that is, he needed or wanted something from me. I cautiously told my mom to put him on the phone.

"Hello." he said a moment later. My eyes narrowed at the smugness I detected in his tone.

"Hi..." I answered slowly, waiting.

"How's it going, Miss Alabama?"

"I-" I suddenly connected what he had just said with my current situation. The effect was quite jarring, to say the least. A breathless 'what' was all I managed to push out of my clenching throat.

"I didn't realize we had an uncle who owns a goat farm. Or that you had Hesphalumtidus Syndrome Disease. That's new."

"Where did you hear that?" I asked him incredulously, sinking down to the bathroom floor.

"Oh, I was flipping channels earlier and I thought I saw someone familiar. I wasn't sure it was you until that guy said your name. I figured the rest out after I looked up Maggie's aunt's phone number and she said you were staying at a hotel instead of her house." I sighed heavily. Why did my little eleven-year-old brother have to be so pesky and mischevious? Why couldn't he be all cute and adorable like he'd been when he was three? I would have been perfectly happy if Chris had remained frozen in time at age three for all of eternity. Those were good years. When he could say fewer than ten words.

"You can't tell mom." I said finally.

"Why are you even in that pageant thing, anyways? I thought you hated that sort of stuff."

"It's a long story. Just...promise me that you won't tell her."

"Oh, I won't tell her." Chris said, his voice sending a vision of his scheming face into my mind. "Not when I can just show her on Saturday night at 8 p.m."

"You wouldn't dare." I snarled through gritted teeth. My little brother just laughed, apparently enjoying my distress.

"I hope you win, Blair. At least then maybe the scholarship money you'll get will keep Mom from grounding you for the rest of your life."

"Chris!" I shouted wildly in frustration. But it was useless. I heard him cackling like some evil little gremlin and then the line went dead. "Fucking hell!" I slammed my head back into the wall a bit too forcefully and stars errupted in my vision.

"Um...Blair? Is everything okay in there?" I heard a tentative voice say. The bathroom door was cracked open and Maggie stepped in to see what was going on. "Did you get your period again?" she asked, taking in my slumped form. "I know it's no fun, but come on...I don't think we need to be this dramatic about it."

"No, Maggie, I didn't get my period." I said in exasperation, climbing to my feet and fighting the urge to tip forward from the dizziness. I massaged the back of my head, hoping I hadn't concussed myself. That would just be the perfect ending to my shitty day. "I'm just having a bit of a crisis right now." I quickly explained the situation with my mom, but of course, my best friend didn't seem to grasp the severity of the consequences that my mother's viewing of my part in the America's Junior Miss Pageant could bring about.

"It'll be okay. We've still got a day or two to figure something out. Maybe we can call Devon and have him sneak over to your house and smash your TV satellite with a baseball bat or something."

"Oh yeah, that idea's a winner." For some reason, Maggie didn't seem to pick up on the biting sarcasm in my voice, and instead patted me on the shoulder with a smile.

"Hang in there, little trooper. I think you just need to chill out for a little while. I'm using my credit card to rent out my own room next to the guys. I can't take another night of trying to sleep while all five of them snore loud enough to shake the beds. You can come stay with me tonight and we can be lazy and order pizza."

"Thanks, Mag, but while pizza does sound delightful, I think I better sleep in my own hotel room. Babs is starting to wonder where I keep disappearing to and its pretty awkward to try and explain." Maggie shrugged and started to leave the bathroom.

"Suit yourself, but you're missing out on a great, cheesy experience."

"I don't know if I'll make it through, but I have to try." I crooned dramatically, feigning devastation. "Must...resist...cheesy power." Maggie punched me playfully in the shoulder and we both went to rejoin Ashley and the others.

* * *

><p>That night it rained. And I don't mean like a light little sprinkle from a soft, cloudy gray sky. I mean like a torrential downpour from a sky that had looked almost pitch black by 5:00. Powerful winds were whipping up against the sides of the hotel and making unsettling rumbling noises. It was almost 8:00 p.m. and I'd decided to turn in early, drained both mentally and physically from everything that went on in the day.<p>

I was laying compactly on the bed in my hotel room, already in my Adventure Time pajamas, massaging my temples and making a sincere effort not to think. Babs was hovering around the windows, peering out through the curtains to see what was going down outside. Unable to clear my head while doing absolutely nothing, I rolled over onto my side for the third time to study the Pageant Agenda handout once again. The only thing listed for tomorrow was something intriguingly labeled **Carnival Celebration: 5:00 p.m. **I sighed long and low. Well, as long as I didn't have to cut anybody in half with a chainsaw again, I was A-ok.

"I hope it doesn't rain out the carnival tomorrow." Babs said anxiously from the window. "That's what I've been really looking forward to." She swivled around to face me. "Maybe we'll get to work a booth together!"

"Wait...you mean we actually have to work at this thing?" I asked.

"Well, yeah. That's what the newsletter said. Jeese, Blair, did you like not read those things or something?"

"It was sort of a last minute decision to enter the pageant." I tried to shift the conversation away from myself. "So your dance routine today. That was really cool. How long have you been a dancer?" She started to speak but we were interrupted by a burst of noise in the hallway outside our door.

"I'm telling you, she took it!" a girl was shouting.

"Babs would never do something like that! You're just looking to pick a fight with her!" This second voice sounded as though it belonged to Crystal. Babs and I shared a look before I hopped off my bed and made my way to the door. Sure enough, Crystal was standing out in the hallway, arms rigid and fists clenched in anger. She stood facing and equally enraged Nadine. They didn't appear to have noticed that I was watching them.

"She was the last person in the rehearsal room with me. That's where I set it down." Nadine snapped, crossing her arms across her large chest.

"Oh shut up. You probably just dropped it somewhere and now you need someone to blame." Crystal retorted emphatically.

"What's going on out here?" Babs poked out the door under my arm and both Crystal and Nadine froze to look at the pair of us. Nadine's face went beet red.

"You!" she snarled in a way that was nearly animalistic. She brandished an accusing finger at the small girl beside me. I suddenly swelled protectively and stepped forward, bringing my body in front of Babs's, though I wouldn't be much help if the yelling turned into fighting. Nadine glared at me as though she longed to tear my head off. I stood my ground. "You took it, didn't you? You little whore."

"Hey!" I said angrily. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"My good luck charm!" Nadine shrieked. "I set it down while I was rehearsing for the talent competition, and **SHE** was the only other person in the room with me. When I was done, I went over to get it and it was gone."

"Did it ever cross your mind that you could've just misplaced it?" I asked, trying to keep my growing fury towards Nadine at bay. She just huffed and rolled her eyes at my suggestion.

"That's what I've been trying to tell her this whole time." Crystal pitched in. "She's a total pyscho, though! She won't listen to anything I'm trying to say to her." She suddenly turned to Nadine, throwing her arms out wide in exasperation. "Do you know how hard it is to try to reason with you? You're crazy, bitch!" I could sense that this little confrontation was about to come to blows, so I stepped out nervously to come between them.

"Okay, okay...let's not get carried away here. What is it exactly that you're missing?"

"My good luck charm. It's a little turquoise ring my dad gave me for my Quinceanera. I wear it in all my pageant events and it never lets me down."

"Alright, let's settle this." I turned to Babs, who was still standing in the doorway of our room. "Did you take Nadine's ring?"

"Of course not." Babs said sincerely.

"I told you so." Crystal spoke in a clipped tone.

"She's lying!" Nadine barked. "She was the only other person in that room with me! It had to have been her because it couldn't have been anybody else." This was all so ridiculous. If what Nadine was saying was true, it seemed that the only explanation would be that Babs had taken the ring. But that was impossible. Babs was too friggen sweet to do something like that, and besides...what in Gandhi's name would she want with some random turquoise Quinceanera ring? It didn't make any sense.

"I'm not lying!" Babs piped up defensively. "I didn't even see your ring, I swear. Maybe you took it off somewhere else before rehearsal." She looked on the verge of tears, and I felt my hatred for Nadine multiply by about a thousand times, which is a lot considering how much I'd despised her before.

"Look, maybe you guys should talk to a chaperone about this or something." I said, hoping to diffuse the situation. I saw Nadine's brown eyes light up. She smiled spitingly at me. My fingers ached to tear her stupid gorgerous brown hair out.

"Actually, that's a great idea. I'm sure the chaperone will have a thing or two to say when she hears that one of the other contestants stole my extremely sentimentally-valuable ring from me." She started to walk towards the elevators.

"Oh, hell no!" Crystal contested. "She is **NOT** the only one who gets to share her side of the story. Come on, Babs. We are going down there right now and telling that chaperone what really happened."

"Umm...okay..." Babs stuttered, looking concerned. Crystal grabbed her by the wrist and started leading her forcefully in the direction of the stairs. Nadine was still waiting for her elevator to arrive. It was just me and her in the hallway now. The atmosphere was something otherworldly.

"Next time, do me a favor and stay out of my shit, okay?" she threatened as the elevator doors opened. Her condescending tone filled me with a speechless anger, and I found myself very abruptly and intensely alone. Surprised that no one had come out into the hall after hearing all the noise, I retreated into my hotel room and resigned to curling up on my bed and listening to the rain pounding on the side of the building. I was chilly from the air conditioning, but I didn't have the energy to crawl under the covers. Periodically, I saw lightning flash across the sky from behind the curtains. Thunder boomed and crackled nearby. It was an ideal night for self pity and I was wallowing in it at the moment.

The thought of my day felt like a heavy sinking feeling in my chest. A few moments of feeling sorry for myself were desperately needed. It couldn't have been five minutes since Babs and Crystal had departed to go beat Nadine to a chaperone when there came a rapping on the door. Every cell in my body moaned and I just wanted to tell whoever it was to go away, but I went to let them in obediently, thinking that it might be Babs. Instead, I opened the door to the person I least expected to see. Gerard.

He stood dressed in all black and looking especially awkard with the backdrop of a fancy hotel behind him. He was pulling tensely at the end of his shirt. "Umm, hey." I said. The irritation I'd had with him all day had burned out by now, and I was simply wondering what he needed from me in my hotel room at 8 o' clock at night.

"I like your pajamas." was all he said, nodding at my attire. I looked down at my thin frame and suddenly felt very exposed. While he was still fully clothed, I was sporting an agonizingly nerdy Adventure Time shirt depicting Lumpy Space Princess, along with matching shorts that read **Oh My Glob **across the butt. Yeah...it was bad.

"Thanks." I finally got out, debating on whether or not he was waiting for me to invite him in. We had been told by the chaperones that there was a strict rule about no boys allowed in our hotel rooms at any time for any reason. It didn't look like anybody was around at the moment, though, so... I opened the door wider so that he could step into the room. He did so hesitantly, looking curiously around. Thunder cracked loudly outside and I felt the hotel give a shudder from the wind. Gerard looked over my shoulder at the window.

"There's a...uh...severe thunderstorm warning, just so you know." he said matter-of-factly. I just stared at him.

"Yeah, and?"

"I just wanted to stop by and make sure you'd be okay."

"Well, what did you think I was gonna do? Go stand outside with a lightning rod?" Sometimes I was sure that Gerard was the absolute most bizzarre person on the planet. He just laughed at himself though.

"With you, I never know. But really...I guess I just wanted to apologize. About earlier this morning. I shouldn't have yelled at you. That was really out of line." He reached up to scratch the back of his head shyly. My previously cold and empty-feeling chest warmed instantly at his words.

"No, no." I shook my head. "I shouldn't have been so upset with you. I know you guys are just trying to keep me safe."

"Yeah, but it's really not my place to be all controlling and shit. It's not like you can't take care of yourself."

"I know it's just 'cause you care, though. I'm sorry I'm so difficult all the time." The way we were going back and forth, I felt that we were both just apologizing our guts out. Gerard waved me off.

"It's not like you were doing anything dangerous or anything."

"Yeah, definitely not." I agreed. "I was just hanging out with Aiden. You know."

"Right, right. Just hanging out-" He suddenly stopped speaking and looked at me directly with an intense gaze. "Wait...who's Aiden?" Whoops...had I mentioned Aiden? It hadn't even registered in my brain that Gerard had no idea who that was.

"Oh, he's no one." I dismissed. "Just some guy. One of my friend's brothers." Gerard eyed me with scrutiny.

"I don't know if it's such a good idea for you to be seeing some strange guy that none of us knows."

"Excuse me?" I said, shocked that he would have the nerve to say something like that after what he had just apologized for.

"I'm just saying, it could be dangerous. I wouldn't know. I've never met him...for some reason." He added this last part in pointedly.

"You're unbelievable." I spat, turning away from him, frustrated yet again. I heard him sigh behind me and then felt a warm hand on my shoulder, preventing me gently from walking any further away.

"Shit, I'm doing it again, aren't I?" he asked softly. I nodded tersely. He turned me so that I was facing him again. "I'm sorry. I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you, though. You have to understand that." Staring up at him, I began to have a strange and wildly uncalled for fantasy of Gerard pulling me around and pushing me forcefully up against the wall behind me, bringing his face improperly close to mine... I was startled from my moment of completely silent imagination by a violent boom of thunder that sent me lurching forward.

Unfortunately (or, well...perhaps fortunately from a certain perspective) 'forward' meant 'right into Gerard'. He was warm and he smelled like he'd been smoking recently. This close contact was both comforting and highly perplexing. "I'm sorry." I whispered, not sure entirely for what. I ignored the racing of my thoughts in a thousand different directions and instead shut my eyes and crumpled into him, burrying my face in his shoulder. I was suddenly teary for no apparent reason that I could identify, but I could feel my face coloring in embarrassment. Gerard held me like that, though. It felt like the most natural thing in the world when one of his arms slipped around my waist and the other came to rest tenderly on top of my head.

"It's alright." he said in what I assumed was a response to my apology. I felt his hand stroking my hair, but I was so immersed in the embrace that it was becoming hard to distinguish between his limbs and mine. "I'm a fucking hypocrite anyways. It's not like **I** haven't been talking to people I don't know." A certain Latina girl with huge boobs and an even huger attitude came to mind. I pulled my face away from it's resting place on Gerard's shoulder to look up at him with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, and I'm not sure **THAT'S** a very good idea either." He looked puzzled for a moment and then cracked a smile.

"Are you going on about Nadine again? I'm telling you, she's really not as bad as you think she is." He chuckled.

"She is a pit of sin." I hissed venomously. This only made Gerard laugh harder. Just then, another round of knocking sounded from the door, which was only a mere few feet away. Gerard and I froze, still in mid-embrace, our gazes cast to the door in surprise. The knocking started again.

"Blair, can you let me in?" Babs called from outside. "Nadine's insisting that one of the chaperones search our room for her ring." I detected just a hint of exasperation in her voice, but she was keeping it well in check. "I forgot my key on the bedside table." My eyes widened. A chaperone? In our room? Now?

"Shit." I mouthed at Gerard. He released me from his arms and cocked his head to the side in question. "We're not allowed to have boys in our hotel rooms. **EVER**." I put a hand over my mouth in distress and tried to breathe evenly.

"Blair!" Babs called again.

"Um, just a second!" I answered her, trying to make it sound as though I were simply in the middle of something and not trying to figure out a way to hide the male being standing in front of me. "Hold on!" I reassured once again that I was coming. "Get in here." I hissed at Gerard, shoving him into the linen closet and sliding the door shut so hard it ended up slamming. I cringed and then hurried over to get the door. "Hey." I said breathlessly to Babs and a very haggard-looking chaperone with her thick blonde hair shoved under a baseball cap and sticking out in all directions. "Come on in." I said as though inviting them into my humble home.

"Are you okay?" Babs asked me as soon as they entered the room.

"Yup, yup. Just...go ahead and look around." The chaperone walked into the bed area, Babs following behind her. Inside my head, I was screaming. I had to figure out a way to get Gerard out of the room before they looked in the closet. Peering around the corner, I saw that the chaperone was sifting through our nightstand drawers. Babs appeared to be fixiated on the rain storm shown raging outside through the window. Now was my chance. I siddled over to the closet and slid the door open just wide enough so that Gerard could slip through, never turning my back on the other two people in the room. "Get in the bathroom." I muttered instructions. I felt him go past me quickly. "I have to use the restroom." I announced. "Excuse me." And with that, I followed him in, flicking on the light and shutting the door with snap.

"Jesus, what are we gonna do?" Gerard asked, like I had the answer!

"We'll just stay put. There's no way they can search the bathroom while I'm in here." I stated calmly, more for myself than for him. But soon enough, a knock came, sending my heart into a flurry of erratic beats. It was the chaperone speaking this time.

"I'm sorry, hon, but I'm going to have to look through the bathroom when you're finished." My entire body broke out in a clammy sweat. If they caught me with a boy in my hotel bathroom, they would disqualify me from the pageant for sure. That couldn't happen. Not when I'd already made it this far. My survival mode kicked in, and I was able to throw a quick plan together.

"Hold on just a second! I'm getting in the shower." Gerard looked at me, his brow furrowed. I simply pointed at the shower. He seemed to be weighing his options. "Please." I mouthed desperately. His expression was one of extreme uncertainty, but he did what I asked and climbed with me into the tub. I pulled the shower curtain closed sharply and then started the water. The cold of it nearly made me squeal. Gerard looked to be fighting the chill as well, biting his lip and squeezing his eyes closed. "Okay! You can come in!" My teeth were chattering. I nudged my shower buddy so that he would turn the temperature gauge to a warmer setting.

As the chaperone rummaged around through mine and Babs's things, Gerard and I stood stiffly in the center of the shower, getting soaked through with the lukewarm water. The thought of how ridiculous we must have looked almost made me want to laugh, and I had to cover my mouth to keep myself from doing so. Gerard smirked down at me and then suddenly reached up to grab the shower head, adjusting it so that it sprayed a jet of water directly into my face.

"Blegh!" I hacked, spitting water out of my mouth, but managing to still take some down my wind pipe. This started a horrendous choking-cough episode that had me hunched over with watering eyes. I couldn't stop no matter how hard I tried, and it must've sounded like I was dying.

"Are you alright in there?" the chaperone asked concernedly. I couldn't respond, and only started to cough more loudly. Gerard squatted down next to me and patted my back. "Oh my goodness, are you choking?" The chaperone sounded terrified at the thought of having to deal with a choking victim. I didn't want to risk her pulling back the curtain to rescue me from certain death, but I couldn't say anything, and actually...I was fairly certain I was starting not to be able to breathe.

"Umm...I'm okay." Gerard said in a high pitched voice that I supposed was his attempt at mimicking me. "Just got a little cough." He was hoisting me up to my feet, wrapping both his arms around my waist from behind.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep, I'm totally okay." He began thrust his fist into my gut, performing the heimlich maneuver on me. It just felt like all my ribs were breaking.

"Alright, well your roommate and I are going down to the lobby to straighten a few more things out. Thank you for your cooperation." the chaperone said warmly.

"Sounds peachy." Gerard squeaked falsely. One more huge squeeze and I felt water surge up my throat and gush out of my mouth. I slumped forward, completely exhausted from coughing, and lay on the bottom of the shower until I heard the door to the hotel room open and close. "Holy fuck that was close." Gerard wiped his wet forehead in relief. "Are you okay?" I managed to nod weakly. "Sorry." Gerard helped me up and sat me down on the edge of the tub, handing me a towel. "Stay here and I'll grab your suitcase so you can change into dry clothes."

He left me alone momentarily and then returned with my luggage. He waited outside the bathroom while I pulled off my sopping wet Adventure Time pajamas and donned an overly large plain black t-shirt and sweatpants. I wrung my blonde hair out in the sink before slipping out into the room and padding across the carpet to where Gerard stood by the window, looking out at the storm. "You're dripping on my floor." I said bluntly. We both looked down at the puddle forming at his feet. He shuffled around. I could hear his socks squishing.

"Well that was fun." he said, grinning.

"Yeah...It's always been a dream of mine to know what it feels like to have tuberculosis." I said dryly. "But seriously, you have to get out now before Babs gets back. Otherwise I'll have to shove you under the bed or something."

"Point taken. I'm leaving. But here, Maggie wanted me to give you this." He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket. "It's kinda wet, but I think you should still be able to read it."

"What is it?" I took it from him and unfolded it, careful not to tear the fragile sheets.

"She made up some notes on all this pageant chaos for her article. She wants you to read it over or something." I sighed but nodded.

"Alright, I'll be nice to her and read it." I tucked it into one of the pockets on my sweatpants. "Now get out of my hotel room." I started pushing him towards the door.

"Okay, okay. I'm going." He smiled ear to ear like he knew something I didn't. "Besides, I've got something I want to tell the guys when I get back to the room."

"Oh?" I inquired, quirking an eyebrow. "And what might that be?" He was already opening the door, but he looked back mischeviously.

"Oh I'm just gonna tell them that I showered with you and see how they react. Good night!" The door slammed shut when he left and I watched both my raven haired friend and my social reputation disappear behind it. It was still too early to think about sleep so I tried to whittle away the time by scraping off all of the nail polish on my fingernails. Then I turned on the TV to an episode of The Big Bang Theory and lowered the volume to background noise while I read through Maggie's notes. They were mostly just little doo dads about a smattering of things like the threats we'd collected so far, the fire, and things she'd noticed from observation of the other contestants.

Then there were musings about different ideas as to who was behind the threats. A list of suspects seemed to have developed, examining means and motives. I was just about to get into this section of it when Babs returned from her expedition to the lobby and I was forced to stuff the notes back into my sweatpants. Babs was rubbing her forehead, looking stressed out. "Everything go okay?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant as though I hadn't just been cramming soggy paper into my pocket.

"Yeah. The chaperone didn't find anything, obviously, but Nadine's still convinced that I took her ring. We had to talk to one of the pageant directors, but he said he wasn't going to do anything unless he had evidence that I'd actually taken it. He just told Nadine he'd keep an eye on things to appease her." She bent down by the mini fridge and retrieved a bottled water. "Want one?" She offered me a bottle, which I accepted gratefully.

My motor skills were somewhat lessened at this time of night and I ended up spilling water all over my sweats as I took a gulp a little too big for my mouth. I could have screamed in frustration. "Ugh, I'm so sick of being wet tonight. It looks like I peed." I grumbled. Babs giggled as she watched me struggle out of my sweatpants and toss them aside. They landed on her feet. "Sorry." I said. "I'll get those in the morning." She shrugged. We were silent for a few seconds, both of us just sitting on our beds.

"Blair, is there something you're not telling me?" Babs suddenly questioned. It was so out of the blue, I didn't know how to respond. I asked her what she meant, but all she could say was: "I don't know, it just feels like you're keeping this giant secret from everyone or something. I want you to know that whatever you say in this room stays between us. I'm not the gossipping type, so you wouldn't have to worry about anything getting out."

I was still shocked. What exactly did she think I was hiding? After my silence dragged on for a bit, she finally waved it off. "Just forget what I said. I just noticed you've been tense lately, that's all. But seriously...if you are keeping something in, it might not be such a bad idea to get it off your chest." She smiled encouragingly at me, and I wanted suddenly so badly to tell her about this whole plot. Not just to talk to someone about it, but to warn her. To keep her from becoming the next victim.

"Thanks. I'll remember that." I settled on that instead. She looked somewhat dissappointed. I felt bad, but I simply couldn't share. It wasn't entirely my secret to tell. It was Maggie's and all the guys's as well. "Goodnight, Babs. See you in the morning." I heard her wish me goodnight in return as I lay down and rolled over, pulling the covers over my head and letting my eyelids slide closed.

* * *

><p>I must have dozed off shortly after my conversation with Babs, because I woke sharply from a hazy dream and my bleary eyes found the hotel room silent and dark. I could make out Babs's sleeping figure in the bed next to mine. The clock told me it was 2:49 a.m. I didn't want to wake her, but I wasn't in the mood to toss restlessly around for the next five hours.<p>

My stomach was painfully empty, so I climbed out of bed and crept as quietly as I could to my jacket lain across a chair so I could grab a few quarters from my wallet. After pulling on a random (but dry!) pair of jean shorts so that I wouldn't be caught wandering the halls in my underwear, I tiptoed out into the hallway. It was still brightly lit but completely void of human life.

My stomach rumbled loudly as I prowled unsteadily towards a sign reading **Vending Machines **and turned into the little room that housed the glorious snack-filled contraptions. I shoved my change impatiently into the little money slot and purchased a bag of pretzles to quell my hunger and a pack of gum for the heck of it. I leaned up against the wall and munched my snack, rubbing my tired eyes. I thought I heard a door open somewhere down the hall, but when I poked my head out of the vending machine room, I saw nobody.

Glancing at the clock conveniently mounted on the wall, I was wondering whether or not Maggie would still be up and how badly she would hurt me if I knocked and she wasn't, when I saw shadows shifting on the walls and heard the clang of elevator doors opening. Three a.m. seemed an awfully odd time to be taking a ride in the elevator, but sure enough, I caught the elbow of a figure down the hall vanishing into it before it closed.

I crept towards it, my snooping urge rearing up inside me. These urges are like my spidey senses, but without the whole radioactive spider bite thing. Could this be Nadine taking another mysterious night time stroll to meet up with Cara Bentley again and plot their next move? But the little screen displaying what floor the elevator was on said that it was going up, not down to ground level. This only served to pique my interest more acutely. When the elevator reached its stop on the seventh floor, I pressed the button to call it down and climbed on to ride it back up.

If my so-called spidey senses had been tingling before, they had me practically in convulsions now. What was I planning to do if I actually caught someone red handed? Tackle them? I didn't have my phone with me, so I couldn't call for help or take pictures. Way to plan ahead, Blair. The doors slid open without warning, and I stepped out cautiously into the hall. The emptiness of it gave me a bad feeling, but I gulped and bravely moved forward, keeping my eyes peeled for any signs of movement.

I was starting to relax after not seeing anything for quite a ways until a dark form darted out from behind a corner and made a beeline for the stairs. I was completely caught off guard, so it took me a minute to respond, but when I did I ran right after them. "Hey!" I cried, watching them escape up the flight of stairs and out of sight. "Stop!" I hammered up the steps, panting with the effort, but I only caught up enough to glimpse the fleeing person's shoes: plain navy blue sneakers.

The chase brought us all the way up to the eighth floor. The top floor. I paused to catch my breath, staring down the length of the hall. It was oddly dark and plastic tarps were draped on the walls and covered the floor. Power tools littered the ground. It looked like the whole floor was under construction. Stepping with caution, I advanced slowly, prepared to unleash my kung fu skills if necessary. Given the state of my kung fu skills, I was really hoping they wouldn't be required. "Where are you, you crazy pyro?" I muttered. Everything around me was as still and silent as the grave. It was a bit on the eerie side, actually.

And then I spotted the only open door in the vicinity. Aha! I had them now! I dove into it, ready for an ambush attack in a hotel suite or another chase on some stairs. Maybe to the roof! Instead, I found myself in a cramped little room, face to face with...a mop? "What the?" I sputtered, pushing it away and knocking several containers over in the process. The room filled with the overpowering scent of cleaning chemicals. I was in a maid's supply closet. "Uh oh." Realizing too late that I'd been tricked, I whipped around as the door slammed shut and locked in a swift click.

**SHIT**! My spidey senses had malfunctioned! They led me directly** INTO** danger, not away from it! What a rip off. "Let me out!" I screeched, pounding on the door. "What do you want from me? You can't keep me locked in here forever! Somebody's going to hear me screaming!" I was completely clueless as to why whoever it was had decided to trap me in a maid's closet where I was likely to be found the next morning as the hotel staff cleaned the rooms. It made no sense. If they'd wanted to eliminate me from the pageant, why didn't they do it in a way that was less risky and more effective.

I was jiggling the door knob ferociously when I heard something rustling at my feet and looked down to see a manila envelope sliding under the door. The sound of footsteps retreating told me that my captor was leaving me. I scooped the envelope up and opened it with fingers shaking from suspense. The letter enclosed was neatly folded and typed, with the signature red kiss at the bottom. A chill ran up my spine even before I read it, and I knew something was terribly wrong.

_**You should know better than to meddle in someone else's business. You stuck your nose where it didn't belong and now you're going to pay. I have the red head, and unless you leave me alone, she's going to get it.**_

_**P.S. Don't bother screaming because no one can hear you. This floor is closed for remodeling. **_

My heart stopped beating in my chest. I felt all of veins run cold. They hadn't locked me in here to keep me out of the pageant. They locked me in here so that they could get to Maggie. All alone in her new hotel room. Asleep. Helpless. I launched myself at the supply closet door, banging on it with both fists. "Maggie!" I screamed wildly, bashing the door, willing my fists to punch through the metal. "Maggie! You leave her alone, you evil bitch! Let me out!" I felt crazy, rabid even. I had to get out. I couldn't let her get my best friend. I couldn't let this happen. "Maggie!" I shrieked. "Maggie!"

But the only sound I got in return was the echo of my desperate screams.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I admit this started out as a bit of a filler chapter. Lot's of mush and heavy on the dialogue. But then I was like "let's lock Blair in a closet and kidnap Maggie". Yeah...that was literally my thought process. I have big plans ahead for Blair and the gang, so just sit tight and anticipate the wonderness. (That is totally a real word.)


	9. Follow the White Rabbit

**A/N: **You know what I've been doing too much of lately? Watching Criminal Minds. Every morning I sit down with my bowl of cereal and watch two episodes of a show about serial killers, rapists, and other creeps of that nature. It is truly amazing. And my love for Matthew Gray Gubler intensifies daily. The only side affect is that now I'm all paranoid and I think everybody around me is a mass murderer. And then I just wanna go all FBI on their ass and kick down their door. Obviously I haven't been daydreaming about it or anything... Ahem.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Follow the White Rabbit<strong>

**Blair's POV**

I didn't know how many hours had gone by, but I knew it had to be close to morning. I'd exhausted my voice to a hoarse, gravelly little wisp of a thing from so much yelling. My fists felt achey and swollen from banging harshly against the metal door. After resigning to the fact that there was no way anyone was going to hear me and let me out for at least another couple of hours, I sat down to slump on an upended bucket with my head leaning against the door. Some time later, I still hadn't moved. My eyes were red and puffy from a combination of sleeplessness and crying.

Fear clenched its unyielding fist around my heart and I felt sick with anxiety, like I was coming down with the flu but so much worse because I knew there was no medicine that could cure it. Maggie was in danger. I could feel that too, deep in my bones. But there was absolutely nothing I could do about it locked in this little closet on the top floor of a hotel in Mobile, Alabama.

The note from my captor lay on the floor at my feet in shredded bits. Forget the fact that I could have added it to our growing pile of evidence. My best friend was gone, and as far as I was concerned, no amount of clues or snooping could bring her back. This was out of my hands. As soon as I escaped from my janitorial prison, I was going straight to the police. It was the only option that felt sane at this point.

I breathed deeply, trying to keep calm, and squeezed my eyes shut. And then I heard it. The measured thump of footsteps in the hallway. My entire body perked immediately. Deep, unintelligable voices rumbled distantly. I was so relieved I thought I might pass out. "Hello!" I cried, banging on the door once again. "Hello! Please let me out! I'm locked in the closet!" The voices ceased and I knew that they had heard me. Steps crept forward to investigate the racket I was making. I was saved.

The door cracked open slowly and a burly man came into view. He wore paint splattered jeans and a t-shirt, with a tool belt slung around his waist. To anyone else, he would have looked like your average handyman, but to me he looked like Superman sent to rescue me. I flung myself forward and into his bewildered form. "Oh thank you!" I squealed, squeezing him tightly. "You have no idea how long I've been stuck in there!" I stood on tiptoe and planted a huge, grateful kiss on his cheek. He and all of his equally burly coworkers looked stunned. I supposed it wasn't everyday that you report to work and find a teenage girl locked in a closet.

Once at the stairwell, I raced down them as fast as my feet would carry me, almost tripping several different times. By the time I got down to the fourth floor, I was shaking. Hurrying to Maggie's door, I felt my stomach twist as I saw the key card already waiting in its slot, mocking me. I sucked in a deep breath and flung the door open. The sight before me was terrifying.

All of the sheets had been torn off of the bed and lay in a wrinkled heap on the ground. The desk chair was laying on its side, and it looked as if someone had tried to throw the alarm clock. It was cast onto the ground a number of feet away from its original location, the cord ripped from the wall. One thing was for sure: Maggie had not gone down without a fight. "Where did she take you?" I whispered tearfully to no one, still standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hey. I thought I might find you here." Mikey was walking towards the room, already dressed for the day and with his hair straight-ironed to perfection. "Is Maggie still asleep? I thought you two might've overslept since you guys weren't at breakfast." He came to a stop by my side and looked into the room. "Holy fuck, what happened in **HERE**?"

"They took her, Mikey." I squeaked, my throat tightening painfully. "They fucking took her!" Mikey looked startled by my sudden rage, but I was just so angry. Both with myself and with whoever was behind this. I wanted to punch something. Now I am **NOT** a violent person, but I found myself taking a swing at the wall in front of me. Mikey flinched away. When my fist collided with the plaster, I felt somewhat satisfied but a bolt of pain shot from my knuckles, through my wrist, and up my arm. "Ow!" I cried in my pain, clutching my hand to my chest and fuming. Anger was filling the spot in me that had been eaten away by worry.

I stormed into the room in a fury and picked up the nearest thing that looked breakable: a flower vase on the desk. "This fucking sucks!" I yelled, hurling the vase at the ground. It sharded out wildly, but my anger had not yet crested. I grabbed the bed clothes next and ripped them from the mattress violently. "How could I be so stupid! This is all my fucking fault!" Mikey seemed to have disappeared (probably to go get help), but I didn't care. I saw the coffee pot out of the corner of my eye and decided it would be my next victim.

Moving toward it determinedly, I was suddenly intercepted by a large figure. Ray Toro was blocking my path, looking big and more muscular than ever. "She's headed for the coffee maker!" I heard Mikey cry, and he sounded truly devastated. I tried to dodge Ray, but he was too quick and before I knew it, he was picking me up off the ground and swinging me up over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" I yelled, attempting to wiggle out of his grip. I was trying to stay mad; trying not to cry again. I wasn't doing a very good job at it and I could feel the wall of anger that had been blocking my pain dissolving on the spot. I went limp on Ray's shoulder and I began to shake. Once certain that I wasn't going to try to break anything, Ray set me down gently on the floor. I looked up and saw everyone (Frankie, Mikey, Bob, and Gerard) standing in the doorway, looking in on me with astonishment. Now all I could feel was shame.

I felt like a toddler throwing a tantrum in the grocery store. If there was a ever a time I needed the super power of invisibility, it was now. I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my head on them. "She took Maggie." I said weakly. I saw the guys' eyes widen collectively.

"What?" several of them said in unison, sounding completly derailed, as though unsure of whether or not they had heard me correctly.

"Maggie's gone. Whoever's been behind all this pageant stuff took her." Tears leaked out down onto my cheeks and I tried to wipe them away before anyone saw. Gerard came forward to crouch down by me.

"What makes you say that?" he asked softly, putting a comforting hand on my back.

"Because somebody locked me in a closet last night!" Silence followed my outburst. I sighed heavily. "I...I woke up hungry at like 3:00 a.m. and went to go get something from the vending maching." I could still feel the pack of gum that I'd bought in the back pocket of my shorts. "I heard someone taking the elevator so I decided to investigate." Gerard was already shaking his head, knowing where my story was going. "I...ended up chasing whoever it was into a closet and they locked me in and slipped me a note that said I shouldn't be meddling in this stuff and that she was gonna take Maggie."

"Why Maggie, though?" Ray asked, folding his arms across his chest. "I mean...why not just take you? You were already locked in the closet. Why go through the trouble of taking Maggie?" I threw my hands up.

"I don't know! It doesn't make sense, but that's what happened. I can't explain the inner workings of this psycho's mind." Gerard looked at me thoughtfully, still down on my level.

"Hmm...whoever it was must've found out somehow about what we were doing. They probably figured it would be too obvious if one of the contestants suddenly went missing. But if a **PAGEANT CONSULTANT** disappeared...who would ever know? They don't want the pageant called off." I nodded to show I was following his explanation. "Blair, did you tell anyone, and I mean **ANYONE**, even someone insignificant...about anything we're doing?"

"Of course not!" I said, shocked that he would think I could do something like that.

"Are you absolutely positive? Not even anything about Maggie's article, maybe?"

"I'm sure." I said with finality. "Not a word to anybody. I swear." It was quiet after that. Nobody knew what to say. Finally, Frankie cleared his throat.

"So...what do we do now?" he asked. Again, nobody seemed to know how to respond.

"We have to go to the police." I stated matter-of-factly. This set something off.

"What?" cried Mikey.

"We can't do that!" Frankie declared.

"They'd find out about you infiltrating the pageant." Bob spoke evenly, but with a worried flash in his eye. "You'd be kicked out for sure."

"No, Blair's right, you guys." Gerard spoke up. "What's more important: finding Maggie or continuing the investigation? This one's out of our hands." Everyone hung their heads. I could tell they were disappointed, but knew they were equally intent on getting Maggie back. Gerard turned to me. "We'll go to the police, but then that means **NO MORE INVESTIGATING**. You got it? It's too dangerous now. I don't want you going and getting kidnapped, too." I nodded, too worried to even argue with him about being able to take care of myself.

Gerard helped me to my feet. "C'mon. We'd better go call the cops. God, I never thought I'd be saying that before." I nodded and followed him and the other guys as we traipsed out of Maggie's destroyed room.

"I'll get you back." I whispered to Maggie, wherever she was. "I promise."

* * *

><p>"I don't want this interfering with my pageant. You can't imagine the amount of time and money I've put into this." I listened anxiously through the door to the hallway where Annette Whalburg, the America's Junior Miss Pageant director, was having a somewhat heated debate with one of the policemen who had reported to the hotel after we had called 911. Mine and Frankie's ears were pressed up against the door, and from what I could tell from the conversation, Annette was worried that the search for Maggie would cause trouble for the rest of the pageant. I couldn't believe that somebody could find out that a girl was missing and then waste time trying to preserve something as dumb as a beauty contest.<p>

"I promise, ma'am, our investigation into this won't interfere with your work in the slightest." I heard another voice say, presumably the police officer. "I don't see any reason to cancel the pageant. We're just going to talk to the kids and get the story straight. We haven't even determined if what they're saying is true. We get calls all the time from kids just wanting some attention. They get bored, and they decide playing games with the police would be fun."

I tore my ear away from the door and walked angrily back to the table of the conference room. A female officer had led us here and told us to wait until someone came in to question us. Frankie looked back over his shoulder at me in concern. "It'll be alright, Blair." he said, though he sounded less than assured. "They'll believe us after they talk to us. That guy's just telling that to Annette to calm her down." I wanted desperately to believe him but something told me that the word of six teenagers (especially ones like us) wouldn't be taken very seriously.

Suddenly, the door swung open, clipping Frankie painfully on the side of his head. He tumbled backwards and landed on his ass. The policeman stared down at him in confusion. We were not off to a very good start here. "Ahem..." the officer cleared his throat and stepped around Frankie, who was massaging his head. "Hello. I'm Officer Craig Weiner." All six of us snickered at his name and then tried to pass it off as a cough or a sneeze. We sounded like the doctor's office waiting room in flu season. Officer Weiner shut the door behind him. He was average height, but had a round belly that made him appear shorter. His dark hair was cropped close to his head, and he wore a bushy mustache on his thin upper lip . "Now, I understand there's been some confusion regarding the whereabouts of one of your friends."

"There hasn't been any confusion!" I blurted angrily. "Someone kidnapped her!" Gerard, who was sitting next to me, put his hand on my knee, telling me wordlessly to be careful how I spoke.

"Alright, calm down now, miss. You must be..." he looked down at the little notepad he clutched in his pudgy hand. "Blair Hunter. You're a contestant in the pageant, is that correct? Miss Alabama?"

"Yeah." I said, nodding slowly.

"And your friend's name was...?"

"Her name **IS** Maggie Wheeler." I snapped, irritated by the way he said 'was', like she was dead or something. "And she was taken from her hotel room late last night or early this morning." Officer Weiner scribbled something on the notepad and then looked up at me, squinting as though I were hard to see.

"How do you know she was taken? Is there any possibility that...Maggie may have left her room on her own terms? Maybe went to get some breakfast?" he asked.

"How do I know?" I said incredulously, knowing I had already explained my ordeal to them. "Well gee, I was locked in a supply closet last night and whoever did that slipped a note under the door that told me they were going to kidnap my friend. That and the fact that her hotel room is practically destroyed leads me to believe that she might have been **TAKEN**!" I was shouting by the end of my sentence, breathing heavily. Gerard stood up and put his hands on my shoulders both protectively and warningly.

"Officer Weiner." he said, smiling politely at the policeman. "I know this might sound a little...far-fetched, but I assure you we are telling the complete truth." He spoke eloquently, trying to seem older. Officer Weiner looked slightly less than impressed.

"Look, I understand your concern, and we will most certainly look into this issue. But you have to understand how busy the Mobile police force is at the moment. Other than taking a peek in your friend's hotel room and asking a couple of questions, I'm afraid all we're going to be able to do is wait." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. What did he mean 'wait'?

"Wait for what? It's not like her fucking captor is just going to release her randomly and let her come back! That's kind of missing the whole point of kidnapping someone!" I pushed away from the table and marched right up to Officer Weiner, planting my bony little body in front of his beefy one. "You are going to put aside whatever it is you seem to think is more important, and you are going to look for my best friend. Because I think she might be in danger, and she needs your help." Officer Weiner was silent for a moment, as was the rest of the room. But then his eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth.

"Now you listen here, young lady." he said firmly, advancing towards me. "You better watch your mouth when you are talking to a police officer of your own home state. Show me some respect." He stabbed a fat little finger into my shoulder as he spoke, punctuating his words. All at once, Ray was standing in front of me, blocking me from the police officer.

"Leave her alone." Ray said darkly, flexing his muscles and towering over Officer Weiner. I saw him gulp and back away slightly. Then he cleared his throat again and tucked his little notepad away in the pocket of his uniform.

"As I was saying, we will look into the matter and see what we can find. If any new information comes out, we'll notify you then. Good day." He waddled out of the room, looking pissed, but too frightened of Ray to say anything about it.

"Fucking lot of help that was." Bob said dryly from his seat at the table. "What a dickbag. He lives up to his name." I was speechless. I still didn't know what to do, the police weren't going to be of any assistance, and my best friend was still missing. I'm pretty sure this tops my list of worst days of my life.

"We'll get her back, Blair." Mikey said softly, looking at me with sad eyes. My eyes traveled around the room from face to face. Everyone was looking at me somberly. I felt like a family member at a funeral for a loved one who had just died, and the guys were all mourners coming to comfort me.

"What do we do, though?" I asked. "How can we find her? I don't even know where to start."

"What would Maggie want you to be doing right now?" Gerard asked me with an encouraging expression. I opened my mouth to answer, but I wasn't sure. What **WOULD** she want me to do? I bit my lip and tried to think.

"I can answer that question." Ray said suddenly. We all looked at him. "Well, she'd want you to keep investigating the pageant. I don't know her as well as you do, Blair, but I've known her long enough to know what a hardass she is. She'd put her article first, her safety later." I stared at Ray, knowing he was right but not sure if I could do that. Maggie may be a hardass, but I worry at the first sign of trouble and then freak out until I can work around it. "We don't have to quit looking for her, but I'm just saying...if you find the person behind this pageant stuff..." He trailed off.

"We find Maggie." I said, my eyes lighting up. Of course! "Oh, Ray, you're totally right!" I cried, hopping up from my seat and running around to hug him around the waist. The top of my head only came up to between his pectorals. "I'll do whatever it takes." I froze, releasing Ray and turning to look at the others. "Umm...What exactly is it that I have to do? We're running out of time. The finals are tomorrow night."

"You're gonna have to buy us some more time, Blair. So we can convince the police to help us." Gerard said, stepping forward and taking both my hands. I stared at him, hoping he was going to elaborate. When he didn't, I spoke up.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Gerard looked tense.

"Well, you're gonna have to...to make it as far in the competition as you possibly can. That way you can stay backstage for the longest time possible and keep an eye out for anything strange so you can let them know about it. You can be their eyes, Blair."

"They're never going to help us, though!" I cut him off. "I'm perfectly capable of investigating by myself." Gerard snorted.

"Yeah, and that went really well last time when you wound up locked in a supply closet." I narrowed my eyes to a glare. That stung. He sighed and apologized, squeezing my hands gently.

"It's too dangerous. Whoever's doing this is after you, not the cops. Let them do the snooping. You just concentrate on the pageant and staying out of trouble. You hear? We can convince them. I know it. Just give me some time." I didn't even know what to say. I knew he was right, but I didn't want to admit it. Still, he made a serious point about **ME** being the target and not them. Maybe it would be less conspicuous if they were the ones investigating anyways. Gerard sucked in a deep breath.

"You're gonna have to try and get into the Final Five." I gaped at him.

"Oh Gandhi...how do I do that?"

"Well," said Gerard, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "I don't know the answer to that, but I think I know somebody that does."

* * *

><p>Gerard had been referring to Ashley, obviously. Our little pageant expert was dolling me up for the carnival at that very moment. It was a rather somber affair, though. She'd almost had a heart attack when we told her what was going on with Maggie, and kept insisting that we call off the investigation and go to the police until they gave in and helped us. It'd taken almost a half hour to calm her and to convince her that the authorities weren't going to be of any assistance, and that finding the culprit of the pageant attacks was our only hope of getting Maggie back. She was still as silent as a church mouse as she applied my makeup and did my hair.<p>

From talking to Ashley a little bit, I'd gathered that the carnival was held every year and all profits went to charity. Each contestant was required to work a booth of some sort, and then we had a little time to enjoy the carnival ourselves. I didn't think I would be doing much enjoying tonight. My stomach was still in tight knots of anxiety. The fate of my best friend rested on how far into the pageant I would be able to go. And even then, it was dependent on what we could discover while investigating. Everything was just so mixed up at the moment.

"Alright, there you go." Ashley finally said, taking a step back to look me up and down. She smiled weakly, but her eyes were still teary. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks, Ash." I scurried over to give her a hug. I think we both needed it badly. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. You've been amazing. I wouldn't have even made it into the Top Ten if it wasn't for you." She shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Oh please, I may have helped with your outfits and your hair and stuff, but it's you that really got you this far. Your personality's infectious." I found myself suddenly on the verge of tears once again. Ashley swatted me playfully, but I could tell she was getting emotional as well. "Stop." She laughed. "You'll ruin your makeup." I checked the time on the alarm clock. 4:36.

"Shit, we should probably go. The carnival's at 5:00." Ashley nodded, helping me hurriedly to gather my things. She passed me a jacket, which I tied around my waist, along with my lanyard to sling around my neck.

"You're right, don't want you missing your bus."

"Pshaw!" I said, rolling my eyes. "You think Gerard is going to let me ride the bus after what happened? Yeah right. No, he's downstairs right now telling the chaperones that he's going to drive me to the carnival."

"In that creepy white van?" Ashley asked, wide eyed.

"Yup."

"You'll certainly scare the children, that's for sure."

"That's what I told him." I said in exasperation. It was nice to talk about something with someone and not be totally focused on my worry. It was definitely still there, but it was less noticable when I was distracted. "Whatever...He's not gonna let me out of his sight the entire night. I might as well accept it." I started to walk towards the door.

"Hey, you want this?" Ashley asked. I squinted to see what she was holding up. It was the pack of gum from the vending machine.

"Yeah, sure." I tucked it away in the inner pocket of my jacket where it wouldn't fall out.

"You know..." Ashley said as we walked. "I reckon Gerard's just a little bit sweet on you." I blushed.

"It's not like that between us." I said, but even to me the sentence sounded weakly deflective. Ashley looked at me, fighting a grin. I felt my own face itching to smile. Then I recalled what happened yesterday. After preliminaries. With Aiden. And the kiss. I blushed deeper. When I'd said I wanted something to take my mind off of things, these thoughts were not what I'd had in mind. It just made everything that much more confusing. It felt like a giant weight on my chest; almost painful. "Let's talk about something else." I told Ashley feebly. She stared at my face for a minute, concerned.

"Okay." she said, though. "So...can we put up that **Free Candy **sign in the van window again?"

"Ugh! Not you, too!"

* * *

><p>"Here you go. Enjoy your popcorn." I handed over a greasy bag to the little boy and his father who were standing patiently at the makeshift counter of my booth. Of all the booths in the entire carnival, it was of course me who was given popcorn cart duty. We all know I can't make <strong>ICE<strong>, so you can just imagine what making popcorn was like for me.

I had been right in my assumption that Gerard wouldn't be letting me alone for the rest of the pageant. All five of the boys were loitering around my booth, being absolutely no help at all and indulging in the free popcorn samples. Their tense demeanor hinted that they were there mainly to keep an eye on me, though. Earlier, when I'd said I was going to run to the bathroom, Ray had insisted that he escort me and then waited outside to walk me back. It was like being under witness protection or having the secret service follow you around.

Right now, I was listening to Frankie and Bob have a very interesting conversation about things that annoyed them. "No. You know what really gets to me?" Frankie was saying. "When people make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and they put the peanut butter on one slice of bread, and the jelly on the other slice. You're totally supposed to put one on top of the other on the same slice." I rolled my eyes at his seriousness. Like he was discussing politics or something.

"Well, then what the hell is the other slice of bread for?" Bob asked.

"Duh. It's for wiping the extra peanut butter off of your knife so you don't contaminate the jam jar when you go to put that on." Frankie retorted as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"How much oil am I supposed to put in the popcorn machine?" I asked Mikey, who was sitting on the grass behind me, trying to decipher the directions booklet that told us how to work the machine. Apparently, they'd accidentally given us the Chinese version and we were having a somewhat difficult time making another batch of popcorn seeing as we couldn't understand a word of the booklet.

"Umm..." Mikey said, squinting at the page. "I can't tell if this means to add one cup or one tablespoon." I sighed.

"Whatever. I'll add half a cup. That's like...halfway between. I think." I dumped the allotted amount of oil into the machine and then poured in the corn kernels. It would have to do. Flicking the power switch on, I spotted Crystal making her way towards me. She waved.

"Hey, girl, what's going on?"

"Not much. We're, uh, kinda out of popcorn at the moment. I'm trying to make more, but I don't know if it's gonna work out. Sorry."

"Oh, it's fine." she said, smiling. "I just came over to say hi. See if you were doing alright. You weren't at breakfast or on the bus, so..."

"Yeah." I responded somewhat awkwardly. "Something came up. You know how it is." Crystal nodded, but **I** didn't even know how it was. Her face became suddenly serious, though, and she leaned forward as though to tell me a secret. I moved myself closer compulsively.

"Did you hear what went down this morning?" she asked in a hushed voice. I shook my head, but I wondered frantically how news of Maggie's kidnapping could've gotten out. I hadn't mentioned it to anyone. "Well, I saw a buncha police officers talking to Annette Whalburg this morning. You know, that pageant director lady?"

"Oh...r-really?" I said, trying to sound like I knew nothing about it.

"I don't know what it's about, but I hope they've got Nadine in jail or something." Crystal laughed. "I don't know where she ended up, but it ain't here, so I can only hope." Her words lit a spark in my mind.

"Wait...what do you mean?" I asked, leaning in even closer. Crystal looked taken aback by my intensity.

"Nadine's my roomate. Normally I see **WAY** too much of her. I haven't seen her all day, though. She wasn't even there when I woke up this morning. Left the hotel room late last night. Said she had to go work on some routine for the Finals. Never came back. I'm telling you, she is one crazy bitch." My jaw was hanging open by the time Crystal had finished her explanation. Her eyebrows pulled together at my stunned face. "What? Do I got something on my face?"

I shook my head hurriedly. "No, no! Everything's fine. Listen, I should really get back to the popcorn and stuff..." She looked a little confused, but took the hint that I wanted to be left alone and went off to go find some of the other girls. I was in shock. Nadine had suspiciously left her room late last night and never came back? And this just happened to coincide with Maggie's dissappearance? Yeah, I didn't think so. It had to be her. She was probably trying to get back at me for ruining her plot to get Babs kicked out of the pageant for stealing her necklace. The whole story had been a total fake! And I had wrecked the whole thing, and pissed Nadine off! It made perfect sense now! I only needed to find her and this whole thing could be over.

The solution, however, seemed to be the problem. If Nadine wasn't here, then where was she? How was I supposed to know where she was keeping Maggie? There were a thousand places in Mobile. She could be in any one of them. My stomach was twisting even more than before. On top of the anxiety, there was now the thrill of being so close to solving this entire mystery. I couldn't tell if I was naseous or just excited. It was a very fine line.

I looked around at my company. Nobody seemed to have noticed that anything had gone on. They all assumed I was just chatting with a friend. I looked to Gerard. He would never believe that it was Nadine. He would just think I was going on about it again, and everyone else would attribute my accusation of her to jealousy. That, and Gerard would **NEVER** let me look into it if I told him my theory. He'd say it was too dangerous and then go to the police. I couldn't say anything. Not yet.

My head spun. Where to begin? How did I find Nadine? Because if I found Nadine, I would find Maggie. I rushed over to my jacket and secretively pulled out my cell phone. Maybe I could try calling Maggie's phone and see if somebody, **ANYBODY**, picked up. It was a long shot, but I was willing to try anything. When I turned my phone on, though, I was surprised to see that I had a text. I looked down at it and felt my heart drop into my gut. The text was from Maggie. Glancing up to make sure nobody was looking, I opened the message and read it:

**She ttook me to te empty buildng with the graffiti rabbbit help** **me!**

The exclamation marks went on forever. Each one was like a stake driving into my heart. I read it aloud to myself under my breath three times, trying to force the words to make sense. "She took me to the empty building with the graffiti rabbit. Help me." The text was littered with typos like she'd been writing it in extreme hurry with no time to correct mistakes. The gears of my brain started turning. The empty building with the graffiti rabbit...I couldn't recall ever having seen such a building anywhere. But then again, I really hadn't explored Mobile very much except for my little expedition to follow Nadine.

I lit up. Nadine had led me into the downtown area to meet Cara at the diner. If the two of them were in on this together, they would most likely try to stay in familiar territory, and somewhere close enough to the hotel that it wouldn't interfere with them being where they needed to be for the pageant. That in mind, downtown Mobile certainly had plenty of empty buildings and its fair share of graffiti. This seemed the most logical place to start. Now I just had to address the problem of actually getting to downtonwn Mobile to search for the buidling Maggie described in her text.

I couldn't ask one of the guys. That would require an explanation, which would then result in them forbidding me to do anything. And it's not like I could just steal a car and drive away. For one thing, I didn't feel comfortable stealing a car. Also I didn't know how to drive, so I would probably crash on the way there and never make it in time. Okay, so driving myself was a no-no. But what other option did I have? Then I spotted my savior across the grounds, standing tall and olive-skinned, eating a hotdog and talking to somebody on his cell phone. Aiden. And he was leaning against a small midnight blue car. "Bingo." I said aloud.

"Huh?" Mikey asked, looking up from the Chinese popcorn manual. He was now holding it upside down, as though this might help him understand it better.

"Nothing." I said quickly. "I...uh...I have to go to the bathroom." Gerard turned around.

"Again?" he asked. "But you just went like fifteen minutes ago." I had to think quickly. He was getting suspicious.

"Erm..." I stepped forward and leaned in to whisper to him. "I'm having 'lady issues'." I hissed pointedly. His eyes went wide and he started nodding. It's literally that easy with boys. Just tell them you're on your period and they leave you the hell alone.

"Right. Umm...right. Okay." He stuttered, looking embarrassed. Under different circumstances it would have been funny. Gerard and Bob exchanged a glace in a discreet manner, but I still caught it.

"I have to go too, actually." Bob said scriptedly. I refrained from rolling my eyes and slipped my jacket on.

"Okay, whatever. C'mon." I glanced back at Aiden by his car, just to check that he was still there. Bob followed me to the bathrooms like a loyal guard dog. Peeking back at him over my shoulder as I entered the women's room, I saw that he planned to wait outside at the front just like Ray had. It wasn't going to be easy to slip past him and get to Aiden. Thankfully, the bathrooms were empty so I didn't have to worry about looking like a weirdo just standing there, trying to concoct a plan.

Escaping Bob via the front entrance was not a possibility, and I don't think I'd be able to outrun him for long. That said, the front entrance seemed to be the only way out of the bathrooms. I looked around. Ordinary bathroom. Dirty. Smelled like a combination of stale urine and lilac Febreze air freshener. "Aha." I said, spotting a little window that let in a few rays of the dying sunlight outside. It was pretty tiny and high off the ground. I wouldn't be able to reach it without standing ontop of something and then there was the part where I had to squeeze through it.

Determined, I grabbed the trash bin and took the bag out with great care not to contaminate my hands completely. Then I upended the bin and dragged it over so that it rested under the window before I hoisted myself up on top of it and tried to stay balanced. I took a deep breath and pushed the window out. It was slightly jammed after such a long time remaining closed, but I managed to work it open. I glanced once more behind me as though Bob would be standing there watching me, and then heaved myself through it. I tumbled out and landed painfully in the dusty area behind the bathrooms. These were the times I was thankful for being such a skinny person: it meant I could fit through dinky bathroom windows. I poked my head just slightly around the corner of the building and saw Bob with his back to me, still waiting. I didn't have long before he figured out that I wasn't coming back.

I took off at full speed towards Aiden's car, careful to stay out of the line of vision of the popcorn booth where Gerard and the others were. I knew I should feel guilty for giving them the slip like this, but I was too intent on getting to Maggie ASAP to really care. Aiden saw me coming before I got to him. He gave me a confused look as I approached, and I'm sure I must have looked odd: wild-eyed and running full-tilt straight at him. "Hey, Blair, what's-" He didn't get to finish his sentence before I was dragging him down and behind his car. He seemed startled to say the least. "What are you doing?"

I breathed heavily, trying to speak. We were crouched down in the grass so that nobody (and by nobody, I mean Gerard) would see us. The people passing by eyed us wearily. "I need your help." I finally managed to get out. "My friend...she got kidnapped. I know where she is, but I need to get to her."

"Wait, what?" I tried to slow down my speech so that he would understand, but I needed to ingrain into him how urgent this was. Who knew how much time I had? I wasn't even sure if Maggie was safe.

"My friend..." I began again.

"No, I heard what you said but...so your friend got kidnapped? By **WHO**?"

"I think a girl named Nadine might have her. She's another contestant and she's gone too." I explained.

"Oh yeah." he nodded. "I think my sister told me about her. Not exactly friendly is she?" I shook my head fiercely. **FINALLY**. A male who wasn't under the influence of Nadine's giant cans.

"My friend texted me somehow and told me where she's keeping her." He looked at me intensely.

"Where did she say she was?"

"Umm...an empty building with a graffiti rabbit on it. I know it sounds vague, but I think it might be downtown somewhere." Aiden seemed to be thinking something through.

"You know, I think you might be right. I remember driving by a building with a graffiti rabbit on it the other day when Babs and I went to grab something for lunch. I think I know which place you're talking about." I could have kissed him. He was the answer to all of my prayers.

"Oh my God, really?! Do you think you can drive me there?" Aiden paused momentarily.

"Uh...sure, of course. If it gets your friend back, I'll do it." I hugged him tightly (and slightly awkwardly since we were still crouching on the ground), and then sprinted to the passenger door of his car, flinging myself into the seat. He walked around the other side and climbed in; turned the key in the ignition.

"Thank you so much." I gushed gratefully as we backed out of the makeshift parking space and started driving towards the main road.

"No problem." Aiden said, smiling lightly. "I'm glad to help." I twisted my hands nervously, praying we would make it in time and that everything would work out.

_"I'm coming for you, Maggie." _I said determinedly in my head. _"Just hang in there."_ We drove for a good fifteen minutes, slightly over the speed limits, until we entered the downtown area. I spotted the ghetto 7/11 gas station and knew we had to be close.

"Okay, it's probably around here somewhere." I told Aiden, scanning the streets for any sign of a graffitti rabbit. Aiden slowed the car to a crawl so that I had time to look at the buildings passing by, but I couldn't make anything out. "Do you remember where it was?"

"I think it was just a little ways further up. Maybe we should park the car and walk. Otherwise, we might miss it." I nodded in assent and we slipped into a small space at the curb between two rusty, beat up cars. The sun was sinking lower on the sections of horizon that were visible between gaps in the buildings. It illuminated the entire city, coating everything in a citrus-colored glaze. I pulled my jacket closer around my body as Aiden and I set off down the sidewalk. Along the way, we passed every possible form of graffiti (even a giant penis) but no rabbits.

"Are you sure it was this way?" I asked anxiously. Aiden looked about to second-guess himself but then his arm shot up, pointing at something ahead of us.

"There it is!" he cried. There it was indeed. The rabbit was large and white, with a mean look to his eyes. One of his buck teeth was gold. I guess they don't do the Easter Bunny in the hood. I tried to keep my mind calm and figure out a plan. Now that I was here, I had to get in and rescue Maggie. There were so many things I had to consider. Did I just march right into the building? Would Nadine be there? If so, what was I prepared to do to get past her?

I gritted my teeth. For Maggie, I was prepared to do anything. My best friend needed me, and I wasn't going to let her down. The building itself seemed to be an abandoned office of some sort. Maybe a travel agency, judging from the vacation-oriented posters that I could see were tacked onto the walls through the dirty store front glass. I jiggled the doors. Locked, of course. "Hey, back here's open!" I heard Aiden call from around the corner, in the alleway. He was holding the back entrance open, pointing into it.

"Sweet. I was afraid I was gonna have to break the glass." I stepped in through the door frame and was blasted with a chilly draft. My lungs filled with musty air. Everything seemed to be covered in a film of dust and spiderwebs, but I noticed the sets of foot prints tracking through it. I also saw an eerie, thick line clear of dust leading to a door in the back, as though somebody had been dragged. Every hair on my body prickled with bad feeling.

I felt Aiden close behind me and clenched my fists, following the mysterious drag mark to the door. Pausing with my hand on the knob, I mentally gathered myself and all of my strength and threw it open. I was met with pitch blackness. Gulping and with shaking fingers, I pulled my phone out and flicked it up. Blue light shone from it like a small spotlight. I stepped forward tentatively and waved the beam around, looking carefully. Boxes, filing cabinets, fake plants. Nothing of consequence, and certainly not Maggie. Until...

My light caught a flash of red as I swiftly scanned the room with it. I snapped back to the spot and lowered the beam. Maggie came into view in amongst a pile of boxes. She squinted into the bright light of my phone, duct tape covering her mouth and binding her wrists and ankles together. A thick chunk of rope tied her bound wrists to her bound ankles, preventing any range of motion greater than rolling around on the dusty floor. "Maggie!" I cried, dashing to her and clutching her to me in a hug. She seemed momentarily stunned, but then she started squealing wildly. "It's okay, I'm here. I'm gonna get you out!"

Tears were running down my cheeks, I was so relieved. I tried to have a look at the knotted rope, but she was jerking around like a mad woman. "Hold still so I can try to untie these." I said, trying to get her to stop moving. She wouldn't quit, though, and only squealed louder through the layers of tape. Maggie shook her head and started nodding to a spot over my shoulder. "What?" I asked, glancing back and shining the light of my phone in that direction. All that was there was a large cabinet. "There's nobody there." She continued to nod though, eyes wide and filled with a terror I had never seen in her before.

Slowly and with trepidition, I stood up and approached the cabinet. I held the phone in my mouth and used both hands to ever so slightly ease the doors of the cabinet open inch by inch. Expecting just empty space, I jumped back, startled at what had been concealed. There, bound and gagged, squinting up at me just like Maggie through thick chocolate brown hair, was Nadine Smith. It was the strangest thing I had ever encountered. My mind couldn't process what my eyes were seeing.

"B-but..." I sputtered. Not a good idea. My cell phone slipped out of my mouth and clattered to the floor, managing to close and bring me back into complete darkness. A cold sweat was suddenly spreading over my skin. My mouth was drying like cotton and my muscles clenched in fear spasms. "Maggie." I squeaked, backing up in no direction that I was aware of. I couldn't see a thing. "What's going on?"

"I'm really sorry about this, Blair." whispered a voice right by my ear. I whipped around.

"Huh?" I cried. The pitch black surrounded me, and the speaker was hidden in the dark. My ears filled with the pounding of my own heart. Then I felt something solid and cold smash into the side of my head with such a force that it knocked me to the ground. Just as everything had gone black before when I dropped my phone, I slipped into an even deeper blackness now and slowly sank away.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Don't you just love me right about now? I take half a century to update (hey school just started, give me a break) and then I leave you with a deliciously nasty cliffhanger. I'm already barracading myself in my basement, so don't get any ideas.

In other news, it's been quite awhile, lovelies. How have you been? I've been having a bit of rough time lately (just lots of shit right now), but writing stuff really helps. Thanks for being outstanding readers. It means alot to me. Also, I have to get glasses. Yeah...I kind of realized I might need some when I couldn't see the words five feet from my face. Some good stuff's been going down though. Like I just bought Green Day tickets, and there's a super hot guy in my study hall. :) See. Life isn't all bad.


	10. The Great Escape

**A/N: **Oooh, you guys! We're getting close to the end here. Only a couple more chapters to go and then it's a wrap up. Wow. It seems like only yesterday that I was sitting down to write the first chapter of this, even though that was months ago. Fanfics are like children...they just grow up way too fast. :(

On the bright side, I can't wait to write these last few installments because they're always my favorite. So much action and suspense and shit. Wooh! Yeah. :D

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: The Great Escape<strong>

**Blair's POV**

_I didn't know entirely what was going on, but I'd somehow ended up back at the hotel. "What the hell?" I said quietly to myself, looking around. I could've sworn I was somewhere else just a moment ago. I couldn't remember where, but I knew it wasn't here. I could recall darkness. A lot of it. And...had someone else been with me at the time? Who knew! But indeed, I was now down in the hotel pool, stretched out on one of those long, folding beach chairs. Looking down, I saw that I was wearing a yellow bikini. Okay...now I **KNOW** I hadn't been wearing that earlier._

_I sat up a little taller, feeling out of place. Maybe me and Maggie hadn't really gone to Alabama. Maybe the whole thing had been a dream and we were actually at a nice hotel in somewhere more Spring Breakish. Florida, maybe. Perhaps even California. I layed back down. Regardless of whether or not I could remember how I got here, I was pretty damn comfortable. It was warm and quiet. "I'll just stay here and relax for a little while and then I'll go figure out what's going on." I muttered, letting my eyelids slide closed. The sound of a door clicking open had them sliding up again. Once the person in the doorway came into focus, my eyes were as wide as small dinner plates._

_"Hey there." Gerard said, winking. He was walking towards me, clad only in a pair of black swim trunks, his hair soaking wet and his chest glistening with beads of water. My stare traveled from his messy hair to his smiling face to his...his rock hard abs? Wait. _

_"When did you get a six pack?" I asked him incredulously. Don't get me wrong. Gerard was by no means fat, but he wasn't exactly ripped or anything either. _

_"I've been working out." he said smoothly. I had a sudden image in my head of Gerard running on a treadmill in skinny jeans and one of his Iron Maiden t-shirts. It was very strange. But even stranger were the next words that came out of Gerard's mouth. "Would you care for some grapes, my lady?" He produced a golden bowl of red grapes from seemingly out of nowhere. _

_"Uh...sure." I said, puzzled. _

_"Then lay back and relax." Gerard then began to feed me grapes while I laid there and did nothing but chew. Well this was new. "You know, Blair." he said calmly. "I'm in love with you." I almost choked on a grape. I had to lean over the side of the chair and spit it out to prevent it from becoming lodged in my windpipe. _

_"Wh-what?" I sputtered, blinking at him. Surely, I must've heard him wrong. _

_"I'm in love with you." he stated once again, as bluntly as he had before. I simply gaped at him, unsure of how to respond and not knowing if I was even capable of speech to do so. "And because I love you so much..." he continued. "Will you marry me?" My jaw came open as he got down on one knee and pulled a little black box out of his pocket. Flipping it open, he revealed the biggest diamond I had ever seen in my entire life. It glittered in the light cast by the flourescent beams from the pool ceiling. I was sure I was going to pass out. I couldn't form words. My throat was too constricted. "Blair?" Gerard said questioningly, still holding out the ring. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. "Blair?" he said again. "Blair. **BLAIR**!"_

I jolted awake. A bright, sickly yellow light blinded me and I had to squinch my eyes closed. The first thing I became aware of was the throbbing pain in the back of my head, like somebody had clubbed me with a baseball bat. The second thing that came to my attention was the cold, rough, dusty floor under me. Something sharp was poking into my back. Putting all of these things together, reality came rushing back to me. My escape with Aiden to the abandoned building to save Maggie. The pitch blackness of the room. **NADINE** bound and gagged in the cabinet. And then that fierce blow to the head that had me sprawled on the floor. It must have knocked me out.

"Blair." My eyes snapped to the right. Intensely blue ones met mine. Maggie was the one that had been calling my name. It looked as though she had somehow gotten the duct tape off of her mouth. I had no duct tape on my mouth, either, but I was tied up at the wrists and ankles just like she was. "Thank God you're awake." Maggie said. "I thought you might never come to. What were you dreaming about?" I felt my face go instantly red. "You kept muttering stuff about grapes and diamonds."

"Uh...I don't really remember. How'd you get your duct tape off?"

"Oh, I kept licking at it until the stick wore off. I had to rip Nadine's off with my teeth." She jerked her head to a spot behind her and I saw Nadine sitting there on the floor, tied up and miserable-looking. She was still beautiful, but all of her makeup was running down her cheeks and her normally perfect hair was in terrible disarray.

"I don't understand what's going on here." I said, shaking my head. "I thought Nadine was the one behind all this. I though **SHE** kidnapped you." Maggie opened her mouth to explain, but somebody else beat her to the punch.

"Well, it looks like you're finally up." I froze. The voice was familiar, but totally unexpected. I turned my head slowly to face the speaker.

"Babs?" I questioned weakly. She was standing there, a few feet away, looking exactly the same in appearance, but very different in demeanor. Though just as small and petite as I remembered her, her cutesy, whimsical qualities were gone. Instead, she looked spiteful and condescending. Her sneer rendered her almost unrecognizable. I watched, stunned, as she rolled her dark blue eyes in exasperation.

"What? Not so cute and innocent anymore, Blair?" Babs laughed. "I should have done acting for the talent competition. I bet you didn't even suspect me for a second. Never even crossed your mind." I turned to Maggie, my jaw hanging open.

"**HER**?" I asked in disbelief. "**SHE** did all this?" Maggie nodded, glaring over my shoulder at Babs and gritting her teeth. I whipped back around to look at my roommate, who I'd thought was such a sweetie since I first met her. Who I'd hugged fiercely when I found out she'd be in the Top Ten with me. I felt the stab of betrayal deep in my insides.

"Don't feel bad, Blair. I've been lying to everyone, not just you."

"I can't believe you." I said, my lip curling in disgust.

"I know, I'm just that good!" Babs grinned, igniting the anger within me.

"I trusted you! All this time you were so encouraging to me, but you were really just waiting for the right time to get me out of the competition!"

"Now that's not true." she answered my accusation calmly, pulling over a box and dusting it off to take a seat. "You weren't worked into my plan at all in the beginning. I thought it was kind of odd when the real Miss Alabama didn't show up to compete, since I knew what she looked like after digging up those blackmail photos. But I just figured it was because she chickened out and quit, which admittedly I was hoping more people would do." I listened intently while she talked, but I was stewing inside, my emotions a great ball of confusion and erratic mood-swings. One minute I felt like a victim of violation, the next I burned with rage.

"So I met you, and I thought: 'Well, okay...it's going to be easy to beat her. She's such a klutz and she has no idea what she's doing.'"

"Hey!" Maggie cried. "That's my best friend you're talking about, you scheming slutbag!"

"You have quite a temper, but I guess that comes with the red hair." Babs continued, unperterbed. "So I didn't even think about you at all for a little while. I only wanted to eliminate people who posed the biggest threat. Anything more would've taken too much energy and time. I did plan a little stunt at the Welcome Luncheon to send some people packing, but I guess no one around here likes egg rolls." My memory ground its gears at this sentence and brought me back to the very first day of the pageant in the dining hall.

_Me and Babs siddled down along the buffet, filling our plates._

_"Egg roll?" Babs offered, picking one up off of a small plate with tongs and holding it out to me. "I'm surprised they have them." She giggled._

"You tried to poison us?" I asked in shock. Babs shrugged.

"Just food poisoning. All I did was add a touch of my visine eye drops to them. Not enough to kill anyone, just make them sick." I couldn't believe what she was telling me. The Babs I had know had **NOT** seemed anywhere close to capable of what she was describing. She just continued on with her story, though, like she was excited to finally disclose it. "After that, I sent a threatening note or two to scare people. Then I tried to get rid of Crystal, but you foiled that plan. God, she is such a bitch. Always mouthing off about what she'd do to the person who was behind the threats. Oh, it made me so mad." She clenched her jaw and I saw anger I didn't know she possessed flashing in her eyes.

"Then I got pretty mad at you, so I tried to make sure you missed the bus on the day of the talent competion so you'd be disqualified. But you got there anyways, and that's when I saw how much I'd underestimated you. You were a bigger threat than I'd though because the audience loved you so much for those stupid magic tricks. So I started cooking up a plan to ruin your chances. And then something happened." She paused dramatically.

"The night Nadine over there accused me of taking her necklace...which I actually did take, by the way...you took off a certain pair of sweatpants in the room and threw them at my feet." My eyebrows cinched together in confusion. What was she talking about? What did my sweatpants have to do with anything? "I was moving those sweatpants back to your side of the room later and a little note fell out of the pocket." If my hands would have been free, I would have face-palmed. That was the night Gerard had given me Maggie's notes on the investigation to look over. I'd shoved them into the pocket of my sweatpants and then took them off after I spilled water all over myself. Babs must have interpreted the expression on my face.

"Yeah, oops." she said spitingly. "I figured out your little plot pretty quickly from there. And I was shocked to find myself on your friend's list of suspects. She's smarter than she looks."

"Yeah, yeah." Maggie snapped. "You can make all the jokes you want, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm going to rip your throat out as soon as I get out of these stupid bindings."

"Well, I guess we'll make sure that doesn't happen. I'm not letting you go anytime soon. Even if I did just take you to bait Blair." My eyes shot up to Babs's face. "It worked, though. You got my text message, I'm assuming?"

"Your text message?" I repeated.

"The one telling you exactly where I was, of course." It took a moment for my brain to process the information.

"But, I thought...That text was from Maggie."

"Hah! You really think I'd be dumb enough to go through the trouble of binding and gagging my hostages and then not bother to take their phones away? Please. That text was from me to get you to come down here. I didn't want to kidnap you myself in case your friends were keeping an eye on you somehow. It would've blown my cover. I just let you kidnap yourself instead. God, you are so dumb." I felt tears pricking my eyes. What Babs was saying hurt. It hurt because, in a way, it felt true. I **HAD** been pretty dumb not to see through her facade. And for falling for her texting ruse. I should have seen it coming, but I didn't and now I was trapped in an abandoned office building.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked tearfully. Babs looked at me harshly for a long while.

"You don't know how bad I want this, Blair. How bad I need this scholarship. It's everything to me. I **HAVE** to win! That scholarship is mine!" She breathed heavily, trying to calm herself from her suddenly worked-up state.

"I feel sorry for you." I whispered, shaking my head. "It's sad that you have to do this to feel better about yourself. I pity you." Babs sat frozen in the same position for a few seconds. Even her expression didn't change after I spoke. Then she cracked a huge smile, as though what I'd said didn't matter at all to her. Maybe it didn't, but I could swear I saw just a hint of sadness in her eyes. She pushed it away as quickly as it had overcome her.

"Anyways, it looks like you ladies are gonna have to stay here over night since the Finals aren't until tomorrow night. I have to get back to the hotel, but don't worry, I won't leave you all alone. I'm sure my brother will be more than happy to stand guard." This was the part that hadn't yet connected in my frazzled brain. Now it hit me like a brick. Aiden was in on it. Of course he was. Why wouldn't he be? It was his sister after all. But it still made me sick to my stomach. Babs rose up from her place on the dusty box and walked calmly over to the door that stood between us in the back room and then the main part of the building. She rapped on it sharply and it swung open, revealing Aiden in the doorway.

He looked emotionless as he stepped into the room and the thick yellow light cast grim shadows on his face. "I just wanted to introduce you to your captives." Babs told him, gesturing to us like we were inanimate objects. "The redhead's name is Maggie and the stupid-looking brunette is Nadine. I think you already know Blair." She smiled at me cruelly. Aiden remained silent, staring at us with flat eyes. "Well, I really have to go, but I promise I'll come back tomorrow to check on you before the Finals. Just to be sure you'll definitely be missing it. Ta ta." She swept from the room, leaving me, Maggie, and Nadine alone with Aiden, bound and gagged on the floor.

He looked down at me, but I kept my mouth shut and just glared at him. The level of betrayal I was feeling from everyone was beyond words at the moment. "I'm sorry Blair." he spoke up suddenly, and he seemed almost truly remorseful. "I didn't want to have to do this, but you just meddled too much in our business to be safe. It's too bad this was necessary, 'cause I was actually starting to really like you. But you had to go and snoop around. You brought this upon yourself, you know."

"Fuck you." I growled.

"Oh come on, Blair." he said, and he did look a little sad, but it only made me angrier. "Is this really coming from the girl who kissed me just yesterday?"

"You kissed this asshole?" Maggie yelped, gaping at me.

"**YOU** kissed **ME**, you creep!" I snapped at Aiden. "And I wish you'd never done it because now I feel sick to my stomach. You disgust me!" And I really did. I felt like I was going to puke knowing that I'd only just recently been contemplating how much I liked him. All of that was gone now, and the only thing left was hurt.

"Alright, alright, I can see you need some time to cool off." he said, holding his hands up as if in surrender. "I'll leave you ladies alone, but don't worry, I won't be far. I'll just be right outside the door, so don't get any ideas."

"You're sick!" I cried, tearing up, as he retreated towards the door. He paused for just a second, but didn't turn around, and then kept walking until he'd left the room, closing the door with a snap behind him. A thick silence in the room was left behind and I was trying angrily to suppress my tears, gritting my teeth with the effort. "I can't believe I was so stupid!" I half-sobbed. "I can't believe I trusted them."

"Blair, none of this is your fault." Maggie told me comfortingly but firmly. "Nobody could have known. I didn't even see this coming. I just put everyone down that I could think of on that suspect list, thinking I'd narrow it down later. I had no clue about Babs or Aiden. It didn't even really occur to me." I shook my head, still feeling awful. Then I noticed Nadine was watching our exchange intently. I stiffened.

"I still don't understand how she wasn't involved in this." I nodded my head at our listener, who now strangely looked a little embarassed. "No offense, but you sort of seem like the type that would do this. I mean, well...I overheard you talking to somebody once about how you'd do anything to win, so that kinda put you on the top of my suspect list from the start. Not to mention, you haven't exactly been the nicest person to the rest of the contestants." Nadine looked up at me with her big brown eyes. She seemed almost...ashamed?

"It's a long story." she muttered. I rose my eyebrows.

"Well, we have plenty of time." Me and Maggie both waited, looking at our fellow captive. Finally, she sighed.

"Okay...I know I haven't been very nice to you guys. Or anyone, for that matter. But there's a reason for it, even if it's not a good one." For the first time when she was speaking, Nadine actually sounded semi-intelligent. Not like just another airhead heiress like I'd expected her to be. "The only reason I was determined to win was because...I didn't want to let my parents down. Nothing I do is ever good enough for them. It's like I have to be perfect all the time. So I try really hard to be. I figured that if I won this scholarship, then maybe they'd actually be proud of me for once."

If Nadine had said it any other way than this, I would have thought she was just bullshitting us. But there was such a heavy look in her expression and such a melancholy in her voice that I knew this wasn't fake. She was telling the truth. "I wanted to win, but I swear I would never cheat or do anything to hurt anyone else." I looked her up and down. She seemed honest still, but that left me confused about some things.

"But, hang on...if you had nothing to do with this, then what were you doing in that diner the other day?" She gave me a quizzical look. "The other night..." I continued, not sure if she was just pretending not to know what I was talking about it or if she genuinely had no clue. "You snuck out of the hotel and went to meet that other contestant, Kara, at a diner downtown. It looked like you were plotting something." Nadine's face was mometarily blank, but then it became a startling shade of red. She looked down at her feet, obviously embarassed about something.

"That's...that's because..." She mumbled something unintelligable.

"Huh?" Maggie and I prompted her to speak up in unison. Nadine sighed heavily and began to speak, not making eye contact.

"That's because Kara...is my girlfriend." A long, drawn-out silence followed her confession. When Nadine finally looked up, she and I simply stared at each other.

"Okay, back up now." Maggie interjected. "I'm so confused. Who's dating who? And what were you doing in a diner, Blair?"

"Yeah...wait a minute." Nadine said in a voice that meant she had just realized something. "How did you know I went to that diner to see Kara?" Both my best friend and my former (I supposed it was former, now that things were getting cleared up) enemy looked to me for explanation. I laughed nervously.

"Uh...that's really not important. The point is...actually, I don't know what the point is. So you and Kara are...dating?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Nadine demanded sassily. I shook my head.

"No, I just...I had no idea."

"You weren't supposed to." Nadine continued. "I...know I haven't exactly been the nicest person to you, or to anyone for that matter, but if it makes any difference, I didn't really mean anything I said. I was just afraid somebody might find out I was...I was a lesbian and get all weird about it or spread it around. So I was mean to all those girls so that I didn't come off as attracted to any of them. Then I met Kara, though, and she could tell right away. We started sneaking out a night to see each other." She paused for a second and looked back and forth between Maggie and I. "So...I'm sorry I was such a bitch. I was just acting like that to protect myself." I turned this all around in my mind. It had never occurred to me that what I'd seen in the diner might've been a date. I mean, who considers the fact that the supposed plotters they're spying on may, in actuality, be a lesbian couple on a date! Not exactly an everyday scenario.

When neither me nor Maggie said anything for awhile, Nadine spoke again. "If you're weirded out, I understand. A lot of girls get that way when they find out."

"Don't get me wrong." I began. "I don't have anything against lesbians. I'm all for freedom of sexual orientation. My best friend is actually gay."

"Really?" Nadine's eyes immediately snapped to Maggie, who looked taken aback.

"Erm...our **OTHER** best friend." Maggie said, a tad awkwardly. "His name's Devon." I cleared my throat to draw them back into conversation.

"I guess I was just surprised because I...sort of thought you were into someone else."

"Oh, are you talking about Gerard?" Nadine asked. I nodded slowly. "I'm sorry about that, too. I didn't mean to flirt with him so much. I was trying to make it seem like I was into guys. You have no idea how hard it is to hide the fact that you like girls, but I couldn't let anyone find out. I thought they might tell everybody and then that might hurt my chances of winning. But I promise I wasn't really trying to steal your boyfriend." My eyes widened. Maggie burst into laughter.

"I told you!" she shrieked in giggles. "You two just might as well be dating. Everybody already thinks you are anyways." I blushed again. Nadine looked confused.

"Wait...you two aren't dating?"

"No, we are definitely not." I said, giving Maggie a firm look. "But anyways..." I tried to change the subject, but I couldn't think of what to say. Maggie recovered herself and spoke, suddenly serious.

"Well, okay. I guess everything's pretty much cleared up, but...we've accomplished approximately jack shit, and we're still tied up in an abandoned building. We need to get outta here. Anyone got any ideas?" Nadine and I were quiet. I couldn't think of anything. The situation looked pretty hopeless. Maggie sighed. "Then it looks like we need to start thinking before your psycho lover comes back in here and tries to strangle us or something."

"Hey, he took me by surprise when he kissed me." I snapped defensively. "I did not condone his actions. Besides, I already feel like enough of a failure, so you don't need to remind me again."

"Okay, okay, relax. I wasn't trying to be mean, sweetie. I'm sorry." I looked at Maggie and her bright orange hair and blue eyes, and I just felt like crying all over again. I couldn't believe we were stuck in this mess. Nobody knew where I was, I didn't have my phone...everything was just falling apart.

"I can't believe this." I scootched closer to Maggie and laid my head on her shoulder, closing my eyes. "I can't believe it."

"I know. Just give me some time. I'll think of something. I always do." I yawned into her shoulder. I was completely exhausted.

"What time is it?" I asked softly.

"Who fucking knows." she said flatly. I shrugged in response and then fell asleep.

* * *

><p>I woke up some unknown hours later to a loud rustling noise coming from somewhere in the room. I awkwardly squirmed to sit upright without use of my arms or legs, having somehow come to dozing on the cool, dusty floor. My eyes were bleary but I couldn't wipe them so I settled for blinking furiously. It was now freezing in the building and I was glad that Babs hadn't removed my jacket. Squinting through the thick, buttery light that filled the storage room, I saw Maggie sitting uncomfortably by an overturned box, kicking several items around with her feet. A glance over my shoulder told me Nadine was asleep; leaning against a non-functional radiator jutting out of the wall.<p>

"Mag?" I rasped. Her face snapped to mine, looking obviously startled. "What are you doing." She relaxed a little once she saw that it was only me.

"Oh, I'm trying to look through these boxes to see if there's anything in them that might help us escape. It's all useless office supplies, though. There's not even scissors." She seemed frustrated, continuing to poke around in the box's contents with her foot. "Do you know how hard this is to do with your hands tied to your ankles? Well, it's fucking hard."

"Mag, did you even sleep last night?" I asked, taking in the deep plum circles settling under her eyes. She shook her head.

"Nope. I've been trying to figure out a way to get us out of here. So far, the only thing helpful I've come up with is that I noticed a clock hanging on the wall in the back. I don't know if it's accurate, but it was about 9:00 a.m. when I checked it like...twenty minutes ago." I blinked again, this time in surprise.

"Have I really been asleep that long?"

"You were out for awhile, hon." Maggie informed me distractedly.

"Holy shit...that means we only have a few more hours until the Finals. How the hell are we gonna get out of here in time? The competition's at 8:00 tonight." A lump of anxiety climbed up my throat and the familiar sick feeling returned. The fact that I was famished with hunger didn't help one bit.

"I'm working on it." Maggie said, sounding a tad irritated. I supposed it would get annoying with everyone pestering you to think faster. I clamped my mouth shut so I didn't bother her anymore. "Why don't you go wake up Miss Lazy-Ass Pennsylvania of 2012 for me. She can help us look." I wormed my way to Nadine's sleeping form and nudged her calf with my elbow. She stirred suddenly; wide-eyed and breathing fast like she'd been having a bad dream.

"Come on." I whispered. "We're rummaging around to find something that would help us get out. You can help. Look for anything we can use to cut ourselves out of these ropes with."

"That's going to be sort of difficult, seeing as all of us are tied up. How are we supposed to cut ourselves out?" Nadine asked skeptically, though she moved to go towards Maggie and her box. I looked to my best friend with the same question in mind.

"I haven't thought that far ahead." she muttered. Together, the three of us worked through Maggie's box and then it came time to pull down another one off of a filthy shelf. Me and Nadine rammed our shoulders into it to shake the rickety shelf until the box stuck out again. Then Maggie attempted to lay on her back and shift it out with her feet. It was proving to be easier said than done. Clumps of dust fell like snow on her face as she struggled to lift her tied feet up high enough. She appeared to be doing some sort of bizarre yoga pose. In any other situation, it would have been comical. "Almost got it." Maggie grunted with the effort.

The box came suddenly crashing down. Maggie screamed in fright and rolled out of the way just in time before it smashed into her face. Instead, it smashed into the floor with a terrible crunching noise. Broken light bulbs rolled out of it. "Holy broken glass, Batman." Maggie said breathlessly, clutching her chest. The door to the storage room banged open just then, scaring us all. Aiden stood in the doorway, looking at the three of us sprawled around the box.

"Trying to escape?" He asked calmly. "Nice try, but you're not getting past me. Come on, girls, let's step away from the broken glass."

"We would if we could actually walk." Nadine snapped. Aiden walked over, gingerly sidestepping the glass pieces.

"Alright, here. Let me help." He bent down to scoop her up, carrying her back to where we had slept and setting her down. Then he returned for me.

"I'd rather crawl through the glass, thanks." I said cooly. He just smirked and picked me up anyways. When we were all in place, he looked down at us sternly.

"My sister would **NOT** be very thrilled with me if I let you get away. She's gonna be here to check up on how things are going in a few hours." All three of us glared up at his beautiful face, disgusted.

"Why do you do what she tells you to?" I asked, partly to distract him from the fact that we had just attempted to escape and partly becuase I was truly curious to know the answer. Aiden thought for a minute.

"Because she's family." he responded decidedly. "When my mom died, she made me promise to look after her. She made me swear to keep her happy and make sure she has a good life. If this is what it takes, then so be it."

"I thought you said your mom was her pageant consultant?" I was shocked to hear this, even though I shouldn't have been after all the lies I'd already uncovered.

"That was just a cover story. Babs is her own pageant consultant. She's not eighteen, though, so I had to step in and pretend to be when we were registering. Then we just decided it would be easier to pretend that our mom was the pageant consultant. Didn't you find it weird that you never saw her? People are so gullible these days." I bit my lip. I was getting tired of hearing about all the super obvious things that I had missed.

"But anyways..." Aiden continued nonchalantly. "I'm sure you guys are hungry. I'm afraid all I have for you is some cold pizza, but it'll have to do." He exited the room momentarily and then returned with a greasy pizza box. He opened it and set it on the floor in front of us. There were five pieces left. He must've eaten the other three.

"And how are we supposed to eat this with a our hands tied?" Nadine asked spitefully.

"That, girls, is something you're going to have to figure out yourself. Have fun." He laughed a little bit and then left us to our own devices. We ate our allotted slices sloppily and then tried desperately to pass the time while still being productive. We concocted elaborate plans utilizing the pizza box that we knew would never work. We shifted through easily reachable boxes as quietly as possible, but nothing could be found. Most of them were filled with paper.

"We could try giving Aiden a giant papercut." Nadine suggested, and we were so exhausted and fed up with being stuck in that little back room that we all laughed at her stupid joke. Whenever we thought we heard Aiden coming, we would all roll ourselves back to the empty pizza container and pretend to be discussing something in hushed tones. He checked in on us twice in the passing hours: once just to make sure we weren't getting into any trouble, and once to bring us a bottle of water and a package of pretzles to eat.

"It was the cheapest thing at the gas station across the street." he explained, setting them both before us and leaving again." We all slept for a few more hours after we ate and then we resumed hunting for escape tools. By the time we had combed through the entire room, we'd wasted hours and turned up absolutely nothing. Our chances seemed pretty bleak. Then they got bleaker when Babs turned up. She waltzed into the room cheerfully.

"Hello. You'll never guess what time it is." she cooed in a sickly sweet voice. I wanted to spit in her face, but my mouth was so dry, I didn't think I could manage it. "It's 6:30, which means I have to be at the theater in half an hour to get ready and warmed up. They're judging us on our interviews and fitness, you know." She informed us as if giving a gentle reminder not to be late. "Unfortunately for you, you're not going to make it in time to compete and they'll be forced to disqualify you. So sad." She put on a mock pouty face.

"Winning isn't going to change the fact that your a vile, disgusting person." I said sharply. "Everyone's still going to be just as dissappointed in you because you couldn't even really win. You had to cheat and lie to get it. That's not real victory. That's just a sick display of narcisism and jealousy." Bab's face blackened with anger.

"Don't ever talk to me like that again, you stupid, ugly, snooping bitch!" She advanced quickly towards me with a hard raised hand. I flinched, waiting for it to collide with my face.

"Babs!" Aiden's voice pierced the wave of Bab's fury and she dropped her hand to her side, spinning to face her brother. Aiden stepped into the room tentatively. "Come on, she's not worth it. You have to get going soon. Let me take care of it." I gulped at this eerie suggestion while Babs breathed deeply.

"Fine. Whatever. You're right."

"Your cab's waiting outside when you're ready." Babs nodded and brushed herself off like she'd just been rolling around in the dust. She turned to face us, her expression once again set in an icy smile.

"Now, you girls enjoy your night in. I'm really sorry you had to miss out on the fun, but I'm afraid I just can't risk you two showing me up." I could see Nadine grinding her teeth just as I was. Babs looked right at me for a moment and then her eyes traveled to a spot over my shoulder.

"Aiden, why is there a pile of broken glass in the back?" she asked.

"Umm...I just knocked it over when I was trying to move some stuff out of their reach earlier today. Sorry 'bout that." He obviously didn't want his sister to know that he hadn't been keeping a close enough eye on us to prevent us from formulating an escape plan, even though we didn't really have one.

"Well clean it up. Don't just leave it laying there. They could use that as a weapon, you know."

"Right, right. I'll do it as soon as I can find a broom." Aiden hurried off to locate said broom. Babs rolled her eyes. Outside of the building, a car horn beeped impatiently.

"Well, that's my ride, ladies. Wish me luck." She glided flippantly from the room.

"We can't let her get away with this." I said to Maggie and Nadine. "We have to stop her from winning this pageant. She doesn't deserve it."

"Trust me, I wanna stop her just as much as you do, but I couldn't find **ANYTHING** in here that would even remotely help us. I'm trying to think of something, but all of the plans would need us to be unbound. And since we can't find any way to cut the ropes...we're sort of screwed for now." I had never heard Maggie sounding so resigned before. She never gave up. Not the Margarette Wheeler I knew. Aiden appeared once again, brandishing a discovered broom to sweep up the shattered lightbulbs.

"I'm sweeping this up and then I'm gonna run to the gas station and get something to eat. Don't get any more bright ideas, because I'm locking the door and I'm gonna tie you all to pipes so you can't move." There were several sections of exposed piping in the walls that were made up of metal probably several inches thick. Great. Now we had absoultely no chance whatsoever of getting out of here. We watched him boredly. Billows of dust flew into the air as he moved the broom back in forth. They swathed his face and blew up in great clouds. He had to bend over at one point and hack the polluted air from his lungs.

"Damn dust." he choked out with watering eyes. "Jesus!" He hacked violently for a few more seconds. "And they tell me I'm only allergic to cinnamon. Fucking hell." It was like a lightbulb going off over my head. His harmless comment struck a thought in my mind that sent it reeling. I knew how we were going to escape. And the answer had been in my jacket pocket this whole time.

"If we can't find a way to get out of these bonds ourselves, let's get Aiden to just **LET** us out." I muttered to myself. Maggie looked at me. She mouthed a question word but I shook my head. I didn't have time to explain. I had to act fast or I might not get another chance before Aiden tied us to the pipes and we couldn't move. "Aiden!" I called to him. His head snapped up at the sound of his name. He looked puzzled. "Gosh, you work so hard for your sister. You're too good of a brother for her."

"Bab's is a...a great sister." he said defensively. I smiled.

"Yeah, I guess. But I feel like she doesn't really appreciate you. She never says thanks and she's always demanding that you do this and that. It must get exhausting." He looked hesitant at first but then shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal. "Come on...don't you ever think that maybe she should be a little more grateful for you?"

"I guess..."

"Well, I'd be beyond grateful if I was her. I've never seen anybody as dedicated to helping her as you are." Aiden stopped sweeping the broken glass into his dustpan to eye me with suspicion.

"What are you trying to do?" he asked slowly, like he was trying to figure it out himself. "'Cause whatever it is, it isn't going to work." I opened my mouth to deny his accusation, but then I had a better idea. Instead, I hung my head in pretend shame.

"Okay, okay...you caught me." I said resignedly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Maggie and Nadine watching the two of us with baffled expressions. I willed myself to become tearful.

_"Dead kitties..." _I thought rapidly of things that would make me sad. _"Fruity Pebbles with no milk. Gasp! MUSE BREAKING UP." _The last one got me, of course, and I felt a pricking sensation in my tear ducts and my eyes welled slightly. It wasn't the heartfelt sob fest I'd been hoping for, but at least it would add to the dramatic effect. I looked back up at Aiden with my leaking eyes.

"I...I just." I stammered. Aiden looked taken aback by my sudden sadness. "I didn't mean what I said about how kissing you was a mistake. I'm just really confused about my feelings for you." His face softened a little bit at my confession. My plan was working. I fought a grin of satisfaction and continued with my performance. "I think that...Aiden, I think I might be in love with you."

"**WHAT?!**" Everybody in the room exclaimed the same thing, Maggie's and Nadine's voices ringing with a more disgusted tone.

"I can't be sure, but maybe...if I could kiss you one more time. Then I'd know. Please." I tried to sound desperate. Aiden was making an attempt at looking like he pitied me, but in his head I knew that he was secretly rejoicing that he might have a chance with me. He walked slowly to me and knelt down.

"I knew you felt the same way." he whispered seductively, leaning in towards my mouth. I pulled away.

"No, I don't want it to be like this." I told him. "Not with me all tied up. It's not romantic. I want it to be special or else I'll never know. Please, Aiden, this is killing me." My best pouty face seemed to be having the desired effect. He looked as though he would have jumped off of a cliff if I'd asked him to.

"Well...maybe I could take the ropes off. Just for a minute."

"Oh my gosh, would you? That would be amazing." I batted my eyelashes flirtatiously, hoping I didn't just look like I had something in my eye.

"Yeah. Just for a minute. So you can find out." Aiden sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "Yeah. Let me go get a pocket knife and I'll cut you out." He stood up to go grab the knife. "But, I'm going to have to tie you right back up after this."

"Of course. But I need to know. The thought of waiting is just too much to bear." I swooned. He smiled stupidly and walked to the front part of the offices.

"What the fuck, Blair?" Maggie hissed. She looked beyond mad. I just smiled at her. There was no time to explain before Aiden was returning with his trusty pocket knife. Seeing him wielding this weapon was slightly unnerving but I forced myself to relax while he sliced through the bonds tying my ankles to my wrists and then the other ones. Before I knew it, I was free to move. I sighed in relief and stood up stiffly.

"Hold on one second." I fished around in the pocket of my jacket.

"What are you doing?" Aiden questioned, sounding just a tad concerned that I might be up to something.

"Just freshening my breath." I held up a stick of gum. "Trust me, I haven't brushed my teeth in over a day and I've been eating pizza, so...my breath probably smells like something crawled in my mouth and died." I popped the piece of gum in my mouth and chewed slowly with my lips clamped tightly together.

"Okay, but hurry up. I really shouldn't let you out of your ropes for very long. My sister would be-" Aiden didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. I kissed him suddenly and with great force, causing him to stumble back a few steps.

"BLAIR!" Maggie cried from somewhere behind me. I kept my lips locked to Aiden's. Soon, his mouth opened under mine and he relaxed, putting a hand up to my head to pull me closer to him. Finally, he pulled away, a dreamy glaze in his eyes, and a slack smile spreading across his face.

"Whoa..." he said lazily, his eyes closing in satisfaction. "That was amazing."

"Thanks." I said, smirking with my own accomplishment. My plan was completed. It wouldn't be long before he realized what I'd done." Eyes still closed, Aiden breathed deeply.

"Mmmm...You taste like..." His eyelids rocketed open to look down at me. They were wide with shock, and terror was creeping into them.

"Cinnamon gum?" I suggested lightly to finish his sentence, reaching into my pocket and pulling out the pack I'd gotten from the vending machine yesterday and holding it up. His face faltered while my smile grew wider. "Whoops. I'm sorry. Were you allergic to cinnamon? Totally slippped my mind. My bad."

"Holy shit..." Maggie let out.

"You fucking bitch." Aiden stuttered. His face grew rapidly angry and he started forward in my direction. I was actually frightened for a moment and tripped over my own feet trying to back up, falling on my ass. He towered over me now, looking ready to tear me apart. Then something strange happened. He froze and his hands slowly went up to his throat. He looked like he was trying to speak, but couldn't get anything out. Soon, his face had become red and swollen, saliva trickling out of he corner of his mouth. Me, Maggie, and Nadine watched with disgusted interest as he swayed on the spot and then collapsed onto the floor. Well...I guess that's what happens when you eat cinnamon if you're allergic.

"Oh my God, is he dead?" Nadine asked, her voice thick with dread. I crawled tentatively over to Aiden's body and checked his pulse. It was still there, but he didn't appear to be breathing. A peek in his mouth revealed that his tongue had swelled to resemble a chuck of raw meat lodged in his throat. I tried not to gag at the sight of the sickly purple thing.

"Shit, I don't think he's breathing." I felt a wave of panic crash over me. I hadn't meant to kill him! Just to incapaciate him so that we could escape. This wasn't part of the plan!

"Check his pocket!" Maggie directed. "My cousin's allergic to peanuts, and he always carries an Epipen with him." I jammed my hand into the jeans pocket nearest me, but no luck. When I tried the other one, I was extremely relieved when my hand closed around a long, plastic rod. I pulled out the bright yellow Epipen, hardly believing my luck.

"What do I do?!"

"Okay, take it out of the plastic tube!" Maggie said. I did as I was told, yanking off the yellow cap and sliding the syringe out. "Now, hold the syringe in the middle with your right hand and remove the gray safety cap on the one end." I did this too.

"Now what?" I asked frantically.

"Now stab it into his outer thigh!" she instructed.

"What?!"

"Just do it!" Maggie and Nadine cried together. I swung my hand down, jabbing the tube into Aiden's leg and holding it there, feeling it pierce his jeans and skin at the same time. I shuddered.

"How do I know if it's working?" My voice shook, hoping I wasn't too late. To my relief, I saw that his swollen tongue was decreasing in size and that his lips and face were regaining their color. I held my ear over his mouth and heard him softly drawing in breaths, though he remained unconscious. "Okay. He's breathing again."

"Thank you, health class." Maggie said. "It's actually good for something. Now get the fuck over here and untie me." I grabbed the discarded pocket knife from the floor and began to saw through Maggie's bonds. Once she was loose, I did the same to Nadine. Both of them stood up and stretched. Nadine's eyes traveled to the clock on the wall.

"It's seven o' clock." she stated dejectedly. "She's gonna win. All that hard work and I don't even get to compete." I didn't know what to say. I wanted to reassure her that everything was going to work out in the end, but I didn't see how any good could come out of this situation. Maggie grabbed my arm.

"Don't give up yet." she said earnestly. "You can still fix this."

"Maggie, how?" I couldn't see how she could still be so optimistic. "We'd never be able to get to the theater on time, let alone get beautified and compete."

"You might not be able to compete, but you can still make sure Babs doesn't win. You just have to show everybody the scheming fraud she really is."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Nadine asked. Maggie grinned and reached down the front of her shirt. I wondered what on earth she was doing until she pulled out a slim black deviced with a red light glowing on the top. She clicked a button and the red light switched off.

"Say hello to my handy-dandy voice recorder. Standard issue to all ambitious journalists who want to get the juicy scoop. I sleep with it clipped to my bra strap just in case something like this were to happen. And Devon used to call me paranoid for doing that. Well he can stick that in his juice box and suck it." I gaped at my best friend. She smirked at me. "I made Nadine turn it on with using her teeth after they tied you up. I figured someone would say something incriminating sooner or later."

"You mean you have physical proof of Babs sabotaging the pageant?" Maggie nodded proudly. She may be slightly insane, but I think that only adds to her brilliance. "Oh my Gandhi, you're a genius." I gushed.

"Yeah, I know. Now here." She pressed the device into my palm. "You two go and stop Babs. I'll stay here and tie up this unfortunate lump of a human being before he wakes up."

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" Nadine looked overjoyed at the prospect of still making it to the Finals at least to destroy Babs's chances of winning if we couldn't compete ourselves.

"You're damn welcome. Now go! Hurry! You don't have much time! Show that hag what happens when she messes with the wrong chicks!" Nadine and I traded glances and then scrambled for the door.

"I love you! You're amazing!" I called over my shoulder.

"Go!" Maggie cried, laughing. I followed Nadine's brunette form through the dark office front and then burst through the front doors into the cool night air.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Well there you have. Unfortunately, I don't have much more to say than that. I have to attend to my lovely Chemistry homework now. Yay. :)


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